Alternate Goddess
by Sir Teatei Moonlight
Summary: {Diverges at Galahad} [Spoilers] The Face Nemesis Core Unit has been killed. The auxiliary soul it harbours must find a new host immediately in order to survive - even if it means sitting upon a heart tied to the greatest enemy of her existence. (Rated T for the kind of stuff seen in-game, plus some morbid thoughts and a British swear or two.)
1. Fall

Melia surveyed the scene. To be honest, she herself was doing quite well, having taken only a handful's worth of glancing blows from the Mechon surrounding the party. Riki was still in pretty high spirits, bobbing around haphazardly knocking Mechon across the head, but at present he wasn't really accomplishing much. The other four were not as fortunate; they were all battered and exhausted from the seemingly endless waves. It was as if the Homs' Mechon-mashing reputations from battles below the Bionis' waist had made Egil decide to target them more.

Of course, having the Monado disabled somehow wasn't doing them any favours. While the rest of the party wasn't having any trouble damaging the machines with their recently-acquired anti-Mechon weaponry, Shulk couldn't do a thing, and much of the fight's strategy revolved around trying to protect him from the two Faced Mechon while he attempted to activate his weapon. Everyone could feel that his morale was shot, and it was starting to spread.

Sensing that the fight was nearing its conclusion, Egil began confidently striding towards the group, directing Face Nemesis to wait behind him.

"I cannot allow this," the voice from the silver machine strained, clearly trying very hard to assist but not succeeding against Egil's overriding control. "That boy is at risk."

Egil ignored her and waved off the other Mechon, having them back off so he could have a clear shot. He began charging up a blue-tinged energy attack with his right hand.

"This is the end, Heir to the Monado."

Melia strained to raise a single ice elemental to at least cut into the surely massive attack's power; it was one of the last arts she still had yet to regain full control of following her Telethia-induced ether deficiency in Makna Forest. For a moment she considered diving in front of Shulk with Reflection active, a trick that had worked a few times in the past, but with no way of knowing whether it was a talent art incoming, it was far too risky an idea. Besides, that was Reyn's job, and he looked fairly ready to have a go. There was nothing more to do but wait.

"I won't let you do this!"

Without warning, Face Nemesis dashed forward into Yaldabaoth's back, knocking the energy ball free and into one of the silver tailfins.

"Fiora?!" Shulk leapt back to his feet, once again hopeful.

"How dare you defy me!" Knocked far away from the party, Egil had no choice but to engage with Face Nemesis, knocking away her twin swords with little effort. "Worthless machine!" He redirected her momentum into the central pillar of the room, causing a huge crash.

"Fiora!" Shulk looked about ready to run up to Yaldabaoth and attack, broken Monado or not. The rest of the party joined in his newfound energy.

"Egil...No matter how much you yearn for revenge, I will not permit you to have your way!" The silver faceplate lifted up to send a wave of red energy across the battlefield.

Egil was not pleased with this development, taking a large leap backwards out of the energy's range. "The Monado...But how?"

Confusion took over Melia's mind. _What? "The Monado"? But Shulk has the Monado! And it- wait, did it just glow for a moment?_

Shulk suddenly quickly looked around in surprise for a moment, a clear sign that he just had a vision. "No, stop!"

With the red energy now down to an immediate aura, Face Nemesis charged at Egil once more.

"...Will you die for them?!" Egil seemed more incredulous than anything else. In fact, he seemed a bit cocky.

The two giant machines collided and began pushing against each other. As the red light from Face Nemesis grew brighter, the blue light in Yaldabaoth's hand did the same. The massive waves of power triggered huge explosions throughout the fortress.

"YES!"

It was a new voice. It came from the silver Mechon, but it was not the same one that had spoken for it thus far - it was much more youthful and desperate.

"Fiora!" This time, it was all three of Shulk, Reyn, and Dunban shouting the name.

Egil reared his hand back. "Then you shall!" He punched the attack into his opponent's chest.

The resulting explosion dwarfed all the others, blinding everyone for several seconds. Once they could see again, the central pillar was almost completely destroyed, with the entire floor tilting downwards, sure to fall. Face Nemesis sat unmoving near the northern edge, with Egil flying away into the sky.

"Not good! Let's get out of here!" Dunban tried to run up the floor's new slope but failed, having to jam his sword into a crack to stay put.

"Shulk! Where are you?!" Reyn also had to brace himself with his weapon, the floor continuing to move.

Shulk was scampering down the hill towards the destroyed Faced Mechon. But just as everyone realized he was, the floor gave way, dumping everyone on it down towards the sea below.

It didn't take Melia long to enter skydiving formation to slow her descent; as a native of Alcamoth she was trained in such things. The others were all too surprised and confused to do similar themselves until they had fallen far below, winding up in three distinct groups: Reyn and Sharla to the south, Dunban and Riki to the west, and Shulk to the north alongside the destroyed Mechon.

 _Sharla and Reyn are paired up. Dunban and Riki are paired up. Assuming that the silver-faced Mechon remains inert, Shulk and I are alone. I appear to be the only one capable of aiming my descent to any reasonable degree, and also potentially the only one aware of where all of the others are. Therefore, I should pair up with Shulk, to ensure that none of us are alone._

It didn't take all that much time to dive down towards Shulk and copy his speed and direction. He seemed to be trying to get an angle on something inside the chassis' chest; from Melia's current position she couldn't see inside the destroyed body, but she presumed he was planning to extract the pilot.

 _Shulk's goal is valorous, but it is extremely difficult to believe that anything could survive such an attack at point-blank, especially trapped within a chamber that would likely amplify its power. Perhaps I should try to get him...oh my._

She could see the pilot now. She was very badly maimed; her left side had been obliterated, her right leg was in four pieces, and a huge shard of metal was lodged in her biological head. The expression on her unblinking face was that of determination. Shulk was clinging to the chassis, eyes closed and muttering something.

Melia was shaken. She had already seen enough death to last a lifetime, and this was the most gruesome one yet. She wanted to back off, let Shulk land in the water where the chassis was aiming towards, and let him have some time alone before walking to meet him from a few minutes away.

She didn't get to even the first part of the plan. The triangular plate on the pilot's chest, somehow completely undamaged, flashed red before leaping free and slamming into Melia's chest. There was suddenly a piercing pain in the back of her neck, and the world disappeared.


	2. Spill

Shulk groaned and rolled over, now lying on his back on the beach. His head and front side were pretty sore; he vaguely remembered his chest hitting the water first, but not anything after that.

Actually, he couldn't remember much at all of what had just happened. Sure, he could clearly recall one word of Fiora's voice bursting free of the Faced Mechon before everything went wrong, and the terrible state she was in during the fall, but to be honest he couldn't figure out how much of it was memory and how much was delusion. He had some sort of dream after he hit the water too, but trying to think about it just jumbled up the other recent memories.

With much effort, he sat up. The wreck of the silver-faced Mechon was spread out in front of him, scattered across the beach like someone tripped down the stairs carrying a huge stack of extremely fragile plates. The largest chunk was partially in the water. He could also see Melia, lying faceup in the surf to the left. She wasn't moving, but she was breathing and appeared uninjured, so Shulk decided she was a lesser priority for now. He stumbled towards the central chunk, hoping to see that Fiora was still inside.

She was indeed. But his mental image of a giant shard of metal in her head was clearly a memory and not an illusion.

Shulk collapsed back down into the surf and cried. It was too much, to have Fiora ripped away just as she was about to come all the way back. And this time it wasn't even intentional - the kill was aimed at whoever had taken over her body, and she was simply collateral damage. It almost felt like all his effort in the past few weeks was for nothing.

After about ten minutes, Shulk stood back up, his emotions spent. _Well, there's one tiny bit of good to come from this - we can finally put her to rest properly._

He started extracting as much of Fiora's body from the control cabin as he could. It was difficult to tell the difference between the Mechon and its pilot at times, with both of them reduced to twisted scrap. But after a bit of effort, he had the head, the torso, and at least half of every limb. From there, he fastened the bits together as best he could, before carrying the body out into the water as deep as possible and letting go.

It felt surprisingly easy. He expected to be a mental wreck the whole time, stuck in nostalgia and constantly crying from the irony of it all. But he realized that he'd rationalized the situation pretty quickly. Fiora died back in Colony 9, and her body was occupied by someone else and turned into a pilot for a Faced Mechon. She was never alive when they met her on Prison Island, or Valak Mountain, or any time after that - it was just the person who had stolen her body. And now that her body was just as dead as her soul, Shulk found he was oddly at peace with the situation. He didn't get her back, but he did finally give her a more respectful send-off than having her corpse be annexed by the enemy. And while it didn't happen in the most satisfying way, he'd had his revenge on Metal Face for it. Now all that mattered was stopping Egil.

 _...hang on, am I forgetting something?_ Shulk looked around confused for a moment before he saw Melia sprawled out on the beach.

 _Oh, right._

He reluctantly stood up from his introspection and walked over to her. It was just like back in Makna Forest; she was peacefully breathing slowly and unmoving with no visible injuries. The major difference was the triangular plate on her chest, sitting in exactly the same position as it had on Fiora's body. However, it seemed to have a new feature: a small silver wire running out of the top into a thin golden choker around Melia's neck. It didn't look like it would impede motion, but having any sort of tight and unbroken metal ring around one's throat set off alarm bells in Shulk's head. He didn't want to mess with the assembly right now, but he wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible. Just seeing that it had moved from one person to another made him irrationally angry; he had to take a few moments to compose himself.

Very slowly to avoid any sudden neck movements, Shulk took Melia out of the water and propped her up against a chunk of metal that had landed upright in the sand.

 _I'm pretty sure it's not ether deficiency this time, just knocked out. I should be able to wake her up myself. But...how? Well, it's impossible to sleep and eat at the same time. Maybe I can trigger her by feeding her something. Or maybe just some water, yeah that's as good a place as any to start._

Shulk filled a flask lid with clean water and attempted to tip it into Melia's closed mouth. There was no response to the foreign object on her lips.

 _If I can get her mouth open just a bit...I'm not sticking a finger in there, that's gross. Do I have a straw in my pockets somewhere? Uh...no, apparently not. I think the general idea's still good though. Get the mouth open and stick the water in, that'll force a reaction out of something. To get it open I'll need something that causes a natural reaction, an unconscious response..._

A very strange idea popped into Shulk's head.

 _...kiss her? And use that mouth opening as the chance to deliver the water? What? Where'd that idea...well okay, it's a common thing in fairy tales to wake sleeping princesses. But...there's no way she'll be happy about that, she slapped me for touching her_ hand _without permission. And honestly I'm not really a fan of the idea either. Does she even know_ how _to kiss?  
_

 _...well, I guess if I can't think of anything else, that'll be the fallback plan. So what else could there be...  
_

* * *

 _Melia could tell she was once again standing in an unconscious dream sequence. The ground was a featureless metallic plane of infinite size, the sky above pitch black with a massive red sun. She felt pretty much fine, except for a stinging pain in the back of her neck._

 _"I'm sorry."_

 _The voice had no discernible source, but it was immediately recognizable: the voice of Face Nemesis, the one Shulk and the others claimed did not belong to the body of its pilot._

 _Melia planned to ask who the voice was, but a different question sprung forth almost by accident. "Why are you sorry?"_

 _"For what I had done to the Homs that your friends so desperately sought out, and for what I have done to you." The voice did indeed seem to speak the truth._

 _"To me?" Melia's hand immediately flew to the back of her neck where the constant pain was coming from, as if an intangible needle had been stuck inside. "What-"_

 _"I cannot answer your questions now. I am weak, and I was not meant to inhabit the body of one from the Bionis. I must sink into your subconscious and rest, while I await the opportunity to aid your quest to stop Egil. But I do have a message from the Homs who gave her life to save yours."_

 _Melia could feel the dream landscape growing colder as the red sun dimmed, countering the anger and indignation rising within her at realizing that a stranger had muscled their way into her mind and was planning on staying a while. "Fine. What is it?"_

 _"You're in good hands, Shulk-"_

 _It didn't seem like the message was complete, but the world abruptly cut out._

Melia awoke to the sensation of someone pressing their lips against hers. A deluge of jumbled thoughts rushed through her adrenalized mind as her eyes shot open and clumsily began to focus.

 _Someone is_ kissing _me?! Who in their right mind would have the audacity-OH MY WORD IT'S SHULK WHAT IS HE DOING WHAT HAS HAPPENED HOW LONG HAVE I BEEN OUT AM I STILL-_

Her mouth was suddenly flooded with water, presumably mixed with saliva and whatever else had been in Shulk's mouth recently. Without even a microsecond of considering the options or circumstances, she spat out every last drop back into Shulk's face, with the splashback drenching her own face.

The two recoiled away from each other and spent a moment using their sleeves to dry themselves off.

Shulk was the first to speak. "I'm sorry Melia, but you weren't drinking anything on your own, and I couldn't figure out a better way to get it into you."

"...er, yes, I can accept that." Melia was a bit distracted. Aside from the cavalcade of mixed emotions that resulted from being kissed on the lips for the first time in her life, she was trying to ignore the frightening sensation of the metal plate on her chest, perfectly smooth yet definitively attached with no tangible affixation method, alongside the metal collar with a spike in the back that she could feel had drilled all the way through to her spinal cord.

"So you're okay?"

"On the whole, yes. Aside from this...thing."

"Yeah." Shulk circled around behind her to see nothing unusual about the back of the collar, though he guessed it was "plugged in" there. "How bad is it? You want to try getting it off?"

Melia ran a finger around the collar to discover that it was seamless. "I...do not believe that would be wise. There is..." She paused to consider how much should be said at the moment, before deciding that it would do no good to hide anything. "There is a consciousness within it, the same consciousness that controlled Face Nemesis. She spoke to me before I awoke. She claims to be of aid towards defeating Egil."

"That doesn't sound likely." Shulk sourly looked back towards the silver wreckage. "If it's the same person, I don't trust her at all. She took a corpse and brought it back to life just so _she_ could live in it, not the original person. That's disgusting." He looked back with a much sterner face than he usually wore. "I want to get rid of her, and stop her from taking you over too. If we cut the wire, that should break the connection between you and the chestplate. We can figure out the rest later."

"No, Shulk. I do not share your point of view. This person is weak and hosts legitimate remorse for what she has done, seeing it as a necessary evil for a greater purpose." Melia was surprised at how forceful her argument was. She wondered if the other mind inside her was subconsciously guiding her opinion - maybe Shulk had a point.

Shulk's expression softened up a bit. "You're a better judge of people than I am. And it is on you, not me." He thought for a moment and eventually nodded. "Okay, if that's what you want."

"Thank you." Melia looked around. "Now I think it's time we searched for the others. Do you have any idea where they might be?"

"Not really. Maybe further inland. Do you think you could call your ship? That might help speed up the search."

"That seems too risky. We know nothing of the Fallen Arm; there may very well be a Mechon base in the centre prepared with anti-air defences. Only once we have sufficient evidence that there is no such thing would I consider summoning my craft."

"Then we're on foot then." Shulk grabbed the inert Monado and gave it a look-over. "Egil really messed me up though. If we get into a fight, it might be just you. Are you sure you're okay? I mean, with that thing and all?"

"We shall have to see if my performance in battle is affected, but so far there is no such evidence."

"Well, let's go then." Shulk took one last look back at the wreckage and slowly started walking away from the coastline.

Melia also gazed over the destroyed Face Mechon. It didn't seem like there was anything worth salvaging from it; all of the ether cylinders had been depleted or shattered, and nothing else looked to be both useful and easily carried. She moved to walk alongside Shulk.

The walk was mostly uneventful. It wasn't difficult to avoid the native Flamii and Antols, and the terrain was surprisingly natural for being on a piece of the Mechonis. Even as they headed further inland, between the massive metallic arches and cliffs, it didn't truly feel like they were aboard the opposite titan - the sand and plants simply made it feel like a forgotten beach.

After a bit, hunger set in. But conveniently enough, there was a fairly decent amount of fruit available on the trees. Melia was the first to reach for one, a small white plum.

Shulk eyed the fruit with hesitation. "Are you sure it's safe to eat the stuff growing around here, Melia?"

"We cannot say for sure until we have tested it." Melia peeled off a small bit of the plum, reluctantly removed one of her gloves, and rubbed the white pulp against the back of her hand. "I recall Dunban mentioning this concept of testing a mystery fruit's properties against outer skin before attempting to eat it."

"Oh yeah, I kinda remember something like that too." Shulk followed suit, doing his own rub test with another plum.

Melia looked at him quizzically. "You did not need to duplicate my efforts."

"We're not exactly the same species though, maybe it's fine for you but bad for me."

"...true." Melia sometimes forgot that she was the most different of the party, aside from Riki. "Though I personally have not heard of a plant that is safe for a High Entia to eat yet outright dangerous for a Homs, and it would be strange indeed to find something of that specific property in this foreign land."

Shulk shrugged. "Well, you never know."

After a few minutes with no negative effects, the two agreed the plum was safe to taste, carefully taking a tiny bite.

Melia instantly felt the delicious sourness flood forth, and had to resist immediately taking a second bite. "This pleases me."

"That's good." Shulk didn't appear to have an opinion; his face was overwhelmingly neutral. "So if we don't throw up in the next five minutes, we're good to eat the rest?"

"I would say so." Melia collected a few more of the White Plums, confident in their safety and excited to have more later.

Once fed, the two continued to travel inland, carefully moving through above-ground tunnels and metallic ruins. It was starting to look a bit eerier now, and encounters with the local creatures were getting harder to dodge. It didn't help that the sun was setting, and would probably render the whole indoor area pitch black.

Having reached a reasonable clearing against a large wall, Shulk stopped and looked around. "I think that's enough searching for today. We should get some rest."

Melia didn't feel tired until the word "rest" was uttered. "I concur." She reached back into the travel pouch hidden behind her collar and effortlessly extracted the sleeping bag contained within.

Shulk chuckled and shook his head at the absurdity of the scene. "High Entia technology is amazing. Is it just technique, or is there science to it as well? I mean, to make a full-size sleeping bag that you can roll up so small?"

"All of our fabrics are composed of advanced meta-materials, designed for comfort, protection, and function. The technique is important, but the science is more so."

"Man, I feel like we missed our chance when you offered to get some for us. It would've been so much warmer in Ose Tower that one night." He shook his head again. "But no, we made the right decision, let you have your toothbrush and other stuff from home so you don't feel as anxious."

Melia was surprised at Shulk's perceptiveness of what she had packed in the tiny pouch. "I am indeed grateful for that."

There wasn't much else to say as the two got ready for sleep. Shulk sat himself against the wall, while Melia settled herself down about three arm's lengths from him. She fell asleep almost instantly.

* * *

Melia woke up. It wasn't clear why; the overcast sky was still dark, a quick look around suggested no danger was present, and she didn't recall having a dream. A more careful look, however, revealed that Shulk was still awake, sitting up against the wall desperately trying to get the Monado working. He clearly thought he was succeeding at being quiet about it, but there were just enough exertion sounds to wake up his light-sleeping friend.

He saw her head turning. "Oh, sorry, I woke you up didn't I." He dejectedly tossed the Monado down onto the ground.

 _He's in a poor mental state. He needs emotional support._ "A night's sleep is far less important than fixing our most critical weapon."

"Yeah, maybe." Shulk continued to stare straight ahead. "You guys did fine without me against Egil; your only problem was having...having the other Face to fight at the same time. Without the Monado I'm useless."

"Far from it. You seemed to remain able to receive visions."

"As if that did any good. We still lost, didn't we?"

 _We destroyed the fortress, yet he still considers the battle a loss. Probably due to Egil's escape and the destruction of Face Nemesis, and the loss of the person within who was the catalyst of his entire adventure._ Melia decided she'd have to try something different.

"Shulk, tell me about Fiora."

Shulk was greatly surprised; his entire physical mood changed from sullen fuming to reclused fear. "Ab-about Fiora? Why?"

"Why would I not wish to know about the person your entire quest thus far has been about?"

"...uhm...well...er..." He looked all around almost twitchily for a few moments. "...well, I mean, I don't see how it matters now, but if you really want to know..." He continued to struggle for an answer for almost three minutes. "...Okay."

Melia pulled herself out of her sleeping bag to sit up against the wall beside Shulk as he began.

"I don't totally remember what you already know, so I'll just start from the beginning. Fiora was my best friend for almost as long as I can remember. I met her on the first day of school in Colony 9, a couple weeks after Dickson brought me there. She was the only one who stuck up to the other boys bullying me for being new and timid. As it turned out, she was bullied herself by the girls at the start of the year because she was too boy-like. But for the same reasons, the boys respected her a lot more, and she got them off me. It helped that even back then she had a mean punch, broke some kid's nose a week later because he kept pushing me around. I think that's when Reyn decided to be a friend too, he realized I was good at numbers and he wasn't, and probably wanted an excuse to hang around Fiora too. So we basically grew up together. Basically everyone in the colony knew we were a trio."

"I don't know why she stuck around me for more than a few days, to be honest. She was always complaining that I didn't understand her, that I was too clueless to see "obvious" things, that I had no social skills, that I was lazy and had boring hobbies, that I had no sense of taste. I mean, I would try to be better, but it felt like she was always one step beyond. Now that I think about it, it feels like her entire goal in life was to get me to stop being so introverted. Like some sort of mother/big sister combination, which felt out of place because she was three months younger than me. I mean, she'd go out of her way to help everyone everywhere, so I guess it wasn't that weird, but for her to keep hanging around me felt like...like she thought I needed more help than everyone else."

"She had a weird sort of duality about her. She'd always be the first to come up with the peaceful solution that compromises with everyone, but at the same time wasn't afraid to smack people around if they acted like jerks. It's kind of funny really, everyone expects Reyn to throw the first punch just because he's big and tough, but when dealing with people he actually doesn't like to mix it up because he's afraid of causing serious injury and getting in real big trouble. Fiora would whack you, call you some nasty names, and then either expect an apology or deliver her own depending on whether she feels she went overboard."

"She was an incredible cook. People from all over say they still miss the smell of her in the kitchen. We don't have any idea where she got it from, because Dunban never really knew a thing about cooking and their parents died before they could teach her, so I guess she taught herself. Oh that's something I didn't mention. Fiora's parents died when she was three. Her mother was killed in a Mechon attack, and her father went missing, they think he was killed too but never found him to be sure. So she's had Dunban as both brother and parent for basically all she remembers. So of course when Dunban joined the Defence Force, Fiora's on her own a lot, so...so then she gravitates back to me and Reyn I guess, her best friends."

"And then...then we have a few weeks ago. The Mechon attacked Colony 9 again, a year after we thought they were gone for good. We'd gotten separated, and were having trouble with Metal Face because the Monado didn't work on him. Fiora came upon one of the artillery units and started mowing down the smaller Mechon, I heard someone say she busted three or four dozen of them before she reached us, even though she'd never touched anything like that machine before. She got to us and unloaded everything it had into Metal Face, got a real good point-blank shot off into his ugly mug, but still no dice. And he...and he just..."

Shulk stopped for a moment. It was difficult to tell if he was crying again in the darkness. But after a moment, he continued without help.

"He stabbed her in the gut, then threw her into a crowd of Mechon behind him. And he just kept coming at us. And then he just left, basically undamaged, with a bunch of Homs to turn into more Faces with him, including her. And it wasn't even her that piloted that Face, it was whoever moved into her corpse." He paused again. "Her sacrifice didn't do anything, if you can even call it that."

Up until now, Melia simply listened. An image of Fiora had been forming in her mind - a young girl tagging behind Shulk and Reyn, assisting them with the battle against monsters they got themselves into, and afterwards feeding them restorative soup and tasty cookies. It was surprisingly vivid for a few minutes' description and one or two glimpses of a face; it seemed like her mind was generating a lot of artistic license to go with it, such as giving Fiora much longer hair than she'd seen in reality. But with Shulk's latest comment, she had to put her mental image on hold.

"Nonsense. If Fiora were still alongside you after the attack on your colony, would you have embarked on your journey across the Bionis? Would you have met Sharla and the others of Colony 6 to aid in their own struggle? Would you have rescued me from the forest and the tomb? Would we have survived this last battle against Egil?"

Shulk thought for a moment with a frown on his face. "...no, I guess not. There wouldn't be any reason for me to leave the colony, because the only reason I did was for revenge. A bit of a stupid reason really, but...yeah, I guess it wasn't a waste. It didn't do anything at the time, but it got all of this started, and we'd be in much worse shape if Colony 6 had to save themselves. Yeah." He sat up a bit straighter, a little more confident. "Fiora didn't die for nothing. She died to inspire me to get out there and...well, save the world. Just like she'd been doing the whole time, kind of."

With that, Shulk reached out to pick up the Monado once more with renewed determination on his face. After about thirty seconds of uninterrupted concentration, he finally managed to activate it, casting a blue light across the ground. Visibly straining to keep it alive, he hopped to his feet and swing it around a few times, testing its feel. After a bit, he turned it off and on again a few times to ensure its functionality, now with a tight-lipped frown on his face.

"It's not perfect." He carefully sat back down. "It worked, but...I feel worse than before. I've never had to put this much effort into it before...Kind of like lifting weights, but then suddenly they're twice as big."

Melia had a thought quickly come to mind. "I recall Egil saying something about releasing opposing waves. If he is having the Mechonis emit a cancellation field tuned to the Monado's frequencies, then-"

"-then I'll just have to up the power of my own waves to beat it out. Of course, basic wave theory." Shulk looked up towards the Mechonis. "The cancelling effect probably gets stronger as we move closer. Looks like I might need to do some actual training instead of just relying on natural ability." He chuckled for a bit. "Well, that's one good thing about being down here I guess. It's a longer walk up the whole Mechonis, giving me more time to learn to deal with these waves of his, compared to just starting from the height of Sword Valley."

"So...you will be alright?"

"We should probably fight a few things tomorrow morning to be sure, but it looks like I'm good now." He gave her the closest thing to eye contact as he had all night, looking just past the side of her face. "Thanks, Melia. I feel a lot better from talking to you."

Melia could sense that Shulk wasn't quite over the mountain, but he'd gotten past the hardest part and dwelling on it now wouldn't help anything. "That is good. We need you to be at your best in order to succeed."

"Yeah."

The two settled back down to go to sleep. It looked for a moment that a star was visible through a break in the clouds, but it was gone so fast it didn't seem likely.

Just as Melia thought sleep might be immiment, Shulk broke the silence again.

"Y'know, Melia, you kind of remind me of her."

Her attempt to doze off still pressing on her mind, Melia didn't quite grasp the context. "Of whom?"

"Of Fiora." Shulk was gazing off into the distance again. "The weird duality, being-two-people-at-once thing. You're all polite, reserved, formal, and all that stuff most of the time because that's what people expect. But then something happens and you're in there, with fierceness and emotion and...uh, and regret for violence afterward even if it was necessary." His face started pondering a little harder as his speech turned more quiet and inward, now speaking more to himself than anyone. "Maybe...maybe that's why it was easier to let go of her today than I expected."

Melia expected Shulk to continue elaborating, but he didn't, instead returning to trying to go to sleep. She wasn't sure what to make of the comparison. Most likely, he was seeing a connection that wasn't truly there as a means of lessening the pain somewhat, projecting some of Fiora's characteristics onto her for preservation.

The train of thought continued to move. When first told of Fiora, Melia assumed she was just another childhood friend of Shulk's. But as Shulk's actions in attempting to avenge and then rescue her continued to become more impulsive and less rational, it became hard to believe that it was nothing more than simple friendship. In fact, thinking about it now, it seemed obvious that love was the culprit - the kind of love that Shulk himself thought was just friendship until it was taken away.

With that realization, a pit formed in Melia's stomach. Shulk was taken. He was driven to continue his adventure across the world out of nothing but love for someone else. True, Fiora was now dead for sure, but there was no way he'd be completely over her before bringing down Egil. And upon the journey's conclusion, there would no longer be any reason for Melia to hang around Shulk as opposed to returning to Alcamoth and beginning her duties as empress, secluded alone for a least a year decoding the ancient texts with little reasonable avenue for anything more than occasional visits from the others. In all likelihood, she wouldn't see him again until after he'd found another girl - of which there were sure to be many, flocking to the hero of the Homs.

Melia had no concept of what exactly her relationship with Shulk was. She had no real prior experience with friendship or romance, so she couldn't tell where one stopped and the other started. But whatever it was, it didn't feel symmetrical - she could sense that Shulk saw her as equal a friend as the rest of the group, yet she had to constantly fight against him drawing all her attention. And only now did she realize there was little if any hope of him feeling the same way about her.

Of course, not getting what she wanted wasn't exactly a new experience to her. For as long as she could remember, she had suffered through innumerable undesireable experiences that would never have happened if she had a measure of choice. It started off childish and trivial enough, with untasty food, no control over her wardrobe, and all the royal rules smothering most attempts at fun. But even before becoming old enough to overcome such things, the bigger and more life-changing events remained far out of her grasp - being forced outside the palace to see life as a citizen, being ordered to go after the Telethia, being named her father's successor. She was long used to the idea that all decisions in her life were made by other people, and this was just another entry in the list: the first person she could ever say she'd had a natural attraction to was unavailable.

It wasn't a very pleasing thought process. Melia fell asleep very slowly with a sourness in her mind.


	3. Root

Shulk woke first. It was a gloomy day; it probably wasn't going to rain, but there wouldn't be any sun for a while.

 _What's that?_ He sniffed the air. _It smells like someone's cooking fish._ He opened his eyes and sat up.

"You're up then?" Sharla was sitting on his left side. Further out from the wall was Reyn, turning two fish over a fire.

"Sharla! Reyn! It's good to see you two."

"Back at ya, Shulk." Reyn waved. "Came 'round the bend ten minutes ago, perfect chance to make some grub."

"Great." Shulk looked around further. "No Dunban or Riki?"

Sharla shook her head. "Not yet. Hard to believe we won't find them today though. The Fallen Arm's not that big, and we can't have been pushed that far apart."

Reyn lowered his voice a bit. "So...so what about Fiora? Weren't you close to her on the way down here?"

"Yeah..." Shulk looked down into the sand, not quite ready to be reminded. "Sh...She didn't make it."

Reyn's face fell; he looked even more downed than when Fiora was originally killed. Sharla looked reasonably disappointed that she didn't get a chance to meet the childhood friend.

They remained silent for a few minutes.

Once the fish was ready, Reyn cut it up and passed it around. "Well...I guess that's how it goes. At least you got to put her down properly, then?"

"Yeah, I did." Shulk absently passed the fish into his mouth. "I dunno, it...it almost feels better this way. Like, people aren't supposed to be alive after they die, right?"

"I know what you mean, man. Don't mess with death, it'll just get upset and come for you."

Sharla looked towards Melia, who was still asleep, only her head poking out of her sleeping bag. "So what about Melia then? Something's not right if she's still asleep through us talking and eating."

Shulk wasn't sure whether to nod or shake his head, and subsequently just gave off a few confused vibrations. "Well...um...she's mostly fine, but...remember that triangular plate on Fiora's chest? It's somehow jumped onto Melia's body now. And it's got the Face Nemesis voice in it, she says."

Reyn's face immediately flared up in anger, but he managed to avoid shouting anything.

"The Face Nemesis voice?" considered Sharla, looking equal parts upset and disturbed. "You mean, whoever was running that Face has jumped ship and moved into Melia's body?"

"That's what she says." Anger passed over Shulk's face again. "I don't know who she is, but I won't be letting her take over another one of us."

"How's that work then though?" Reyn had already finished his portion of fish, and looked to be thinking about doing some stretches had the conversation not continued. "Melia's got no Mechon parts to work with."

Shulk's mood quickly shifted from upset to ponderous. "...That's a good point actually. Fiora's body was at least half-Mechon. But all Melia has is that chestplate, plus a wire connecting it to her neck. That voice might have a real hard time trying to control a fully organic body."

"And Melia won't take it lying down," added Sharla. "She'll fight the whole way if something goes wrong."

"I wonder if that's what's happening now." Shulk leaned towards Melia a bit, trying to see any hint of an expression on her face. "She does get pretty vivid dreams. Maybe there's an argument going on in there."

* * *

 _The red sun in the sky was much smaller this time; it was hard to see any of the blank metal ground beyond a metre or two._

 _Melia was sitting down, uninterested in the current situation. She remembered having some other dream before this one, so at least her sleep wasn't completely monopolized by the mystery voice, but she was already sick of it._

 _The voice didn't appear interested in communicating at the moment. Melia only heard it mumbling occasionally, its words faded and indistinct, presumably unaware that Melia could hear its inner monologue. Every now and then she recognized a full name - she'd heard "Shulk", "Egil", "Monado", "Zanza", "Fiora", and some others that were either strangers' names or words in another language. Hearing "Zanza" felt like the odd one out; she dimly recalled Face Nemesis's motionless standoff with Zanza's not-quite-dead-yet body at Prison Island, but that didn't explain the perceived frequency of its appearance in the voice's mumbling._

 _Melia picked a quiet spot and tried to ask what the voice was thinking about, but no sound came out. Instead, she had to simply wait until the scene slowly faded out._

* * *

"So the plums are fine, you say?" Sharla took a few off the nearest tree. "How about these mangoes?"

"We didn't try the mangoes," Shulk said. "Too many bugs around them. It tells me they're safe but I didn't want to try and eat around them."

"Fair enough." She tore one of the large fruits from its perch and tested its weight. "It smells kind of bitter, you might like it."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Reyn had finished cleaning up from the fire. "Right then, we're ready to go. Once Melia gets up that is. I don't suppose I can just carry her?"

Shulk tilted his head and considered. "We do kind of need to get moving, but I also feel like we shouldn't bother her. I dunno. Sharla?"

"If you're asking whether it's safe, I don't see why not."

"Here goes then." Reyn carefully slid his arms under the sleeping bag and lifted Melia off the ground. "Where to?"

"West, I think." Shulk visualized the Fallen Arm in his head. "That's where the centre of the hand is. It feels like the first place anyone who ends up here would go."

The others agreed and began moving westward. It wasn't a challenging path, but it was relatively linear, leaving not much opportunity to look around for Dunban and Riki.

After about fifteen minutes of walking, Melia's eyes flew open as she emitted a ragged gasp.

"Ah, there we are." Reyn stopped and put her down gently. "Good morning, you sleepy princess you."

Melia hurriedly scrambled out of her sleeping bag, mouth hanging open. "I...I am abso-...absolutely _ravenous_. I _must_ eat something _immediately_." She had never felt a greater pain in her stomach; it felt about ready to eat itself.

"Here you are." Sharla held out some of the White Plums she had collected.

"Th-thank you." Melia grabbed the plums and stuffed herself with manic urgency. The hunger pains subsided a little bit, though she knew it would take a few minutes to go away completely.

Shulk looked pretty worried. "Are you okay, Melia? Maybe that chestplate made you really hungry?"

Melia clumsily swallowed. "That would make a degree of sense; the voice within said it must rest, and drawing energy from me would be one way to do so. I would hope this is a one-time event." She continued to eat, though no longer with extreme urgency.

Reyn rolled his arm. "Hope you don't mind us packing you up. Didn't exactly feel like waitin' around for you before continuing the search."

"I understand." Finished with the fruits, Melia started rolling up her sleeping bag. She hadn't considered that the chestplate could have such an effect on her, and deeply hoped it would never recur.

"So we're heading west," Shulk explained. "We figure the centre of the hand is a good spot to start with, if we don't find Dunban and Riki waiting there for us already."

Melia nodded. "Indeed. The people there should be of aid to us."

Everyone looked at Melia in confusion.

"...the people there?" Sharla was the first to reply. "Where did you get that from?"

Melia tried to answer but couldn't, her eyes darting back and forth in bewilderment. "I...I don't know. I have absolutely no idea where I acquired that piece of information. I simply know it to be the case."

"It's that chest thingy," Reyn said, pointing at it with suspicion. "It's givin' you ideas."

"Are you _sure_ you want to keep it on?" asked Shulk. "It's done a lot of funny things to you already."

Melia bit her lip. They had a point - just today, she'd overslept, had extreme hunger, and now had a fact of questionable truth injected into her subconscious mind. Was it a side effect of the first day, or a pattern that would only get worse?

"If there are indeed people here, they would likely know a fair bit about Mechon technology. I would like them to investigate before I make a decision."

Shulk's tense mood immediately relaxed. "Now that's more like you, wanting to get more info before doing anything, instead of yesterday where you just gave an answer without much thought. Okay. Let's hope you're right and we can get help."

The group continued west. Eventually, they came to a sort of cliffside from where they could see the metal ring that formed the centre of the hand, though with just barely not enough height to see inside. The landscape around was an almost pleasing mix of ancient wreakage and long-standing greenery.

"Looks like we can get in through there." Reyn pointed to what could be an entrance on the left part of the otherwise unbroken ring.

"If we can get through the Mechon." Shulk looked over the few but distinctive groups of Mechon on the ground below. "They don't seem all that organized, but they'll still come after us. Are we all ready?"

Everyone assented and began climbing down the cliff. The terrain below was simple, and while the Mechon did indeed want to fight, they were little trouble against a functional Monado and its allies. It didn't take long at all to reach the theorized entrance.

Idly wandering around the area in front of the entrance appeared to be two people completely covered in oddly-shaped armour: one with blue accents and huge shoulders, the other with reddish accents and a more feminine design.

"So there _are_ people here," Shulk mused. "That probably means there's no Mechon base or anything."

Melia nodded. "Indeed. I therefore consider it safe for me to summon my ship here. We should find Dunban and Riki within minutes, if they have not already made it here."

The two natives noticed the approaching travellers and began walking to meet them. As they approached, it became clear that they might not be wearing armour, but actually be entirely composed of metal. In fact, the blue one had a very strange-looking head that didn't seem to have a face.

The reddish female was first to speak. "Greetings, Homs. Why have you come to this land?" Her voice was full of suspicion.

Melia naturally assumed a diplomatic role. "Greetings. We have arrived here on the Fallen Arm by accident. We search for our fellows and for medical attention."

"Accident, you say?" The blue male looked upwards, seemingly unhappy. "Let me guess: You fell from the Mechon fortress up above, didn't you? No, you don't need to tell me. You're not the first to land here."

"Can you help us then?" asked Shulk.

"Well...Not us really, but I'm sure someone knows something." He tilted his head towards the entrance. "Go on in. Name's Eiz, by the way. I would say it's nice to meet you, but...well, I'm in a bad mood today. Don't take it personally."

The other one made a half-shrugging motion. "My name is Eleqa. We simply guard the entrance so the Mechon can't come inside. The others will be better suited to handle your concerns - if you're looking for a doctor, Linada is her name, but I'm not sure how well she could treat a Homs."

"Thank you, Eiz and Eleka." Melia wasn't sure whether shaking hands or perhaps a slight bow would be appropriate; she settled for a deep nod.

"It's Ele _[q]_ a." A smile. "Don't worry, I get it all the time from Homs. Us Machina use a few sounds that don't exist in your language."

"...very well." Melia led the other three into the entrance, trying to recall whether she knew this foreign sound from her speech lessons.

"Machina..." Shulk's mind was busy. "Machine people...life from the Mechonis, not just the brainless battling of the Mechon. Fascinating."

"Why are they bein' friendly to us then?" Reyn looked back with hesitation. "If the Mechon want us dead, why wouldn't they?"

"Maybe the Mechon are wild animals," suggested Sharla, "and these are the actual people who have no control over them."

"What about Egil then? No way he's just some critter."

"I didn't say it was a perfect theory."

Melia felt the discussion was fruitless. "I'm sure there is an explanation to be had, and likely soon."

The group reached the inner edge of the entranceway. It was clear that the entire centre of the hand was a village, appearing not much different than any other village aside from its oddly-shaped buildings. Several Machina, of wildly varying shapes and sizes, wandered about.

Before anyone could truly take in the sights, there was a familiar noise.

"FRIENDS!" Riki, who was apparently already making his way to the entrance, started motoring in their direction. Dunban was following behind at a more reasonable pace.

"Riki! Dunban!" Shulk called out and waved, which he knew wasn't necessary but felt good to do.

Reyn chuckled. "Can't say I'm surprised."

Riki leapt into Melia's torso, forcing her to grab on. "Riki knew friends would survive long fall also! Heropon nev-ver wrong!"

Melia tried to enjoy the hug, but couldn't ignore the cold plate on her chest, like a slab of freezing steel on top of an otherwise comfortable mattress. Suddenly feeling inadequate, she placed Riki back on the ground.

Dunban caught up. It looked like he was about to say something, but caught eye of the chestplate on its new body, and instead looked from Melia to Shulk with a worried expression.

Shulk couldn't say anything; his eyes fell as he turned his head to the side.

Dunban closed his eyes for a moment as he made a slight nod with a tight-lipped straight face.

Riki missed the exchange. "Friends not happy to see each other?"

"Far from it," Dunban replied, seemingly grateful to have the unwanted moment interrupted. "Just...not as exuberantly as you are."

"So when did you get in then?" asked Sharla.

"Last night, actually." Dunban pointed to the northeast. "We landed in an inlet over that way. Just around sunset we came upon this village. The people took us in and pointed us to a house that's been abandoned for a long time, where we slept. Riki kept us fed with some fish, and now we were about to head out and look for you. I'm guessing you all had to sleep outside?"

"It weren't bad," Reyn shrugged. "Me 'n' Sharla only found Shulk and Melia this morning. Figured we'd start in the middle to look for you, and here we are."

Riki hopped up and down. "Melly has new trinket."

"...yes." Melia looked down at it. She hadn't really looked that hard at it since it latched onto her, surprisingly enough; it was even bigger than it felt. "The voice of Face Nemesis resides within it. She claims she wishes to aid us in defeating Egil, but all she has done so far is inconvenience me. I wish to-"

"Excuse me." A blue-coloured Machina woman with a pair of large spherical head decorations was walking by, and turned to face the group. "I couldn't help overhearing that you seek to defeat Egil?"

"We do," Shulk replied.

The woman smiled broadly. "This is great news. We have been waiting for someone to put an end to his madness. Come, I will take you to meet the chief. He will be delighted to hear of your quest."

"That's...very kind of you to offer," Melia said carefully, "but I have a more immediate need at the moment. I seek an expert in Mechonis technology who can evaluate this foreign object attached to me, or perhaps a doctor who can do the same."

"Then you shall come with me regardless, for I am a doctor. My name is Linada. Come with me to the building we call Junks. I will take a look at your condition there. You can meet the chief afterward."

"Thank you."

The party followed Linada through the village onto what looked like a large ship sitting in the water in the centre of the area. One of the upper floors of the interior housed a medical laboratory, though given the nature of the species, it looked more like the tech lab back in Colony 9.

"Please, sit down." Linada indicated a blank operating table.

Both anxious and reassured that the others were present, Melia clambered up onto the table. She never much liked visits to the doctor, though at least this one was likely to be a novel experience.

Linada gathered a few instruments and hovered them over the triangular chestplate, the golden collar, and the wire connecting them. They made a cacophony of seemingly-random beeping noises and flashing lights. Appearing confused, she continued to scan the object with every tool she had, becoming more and more boggled with each pass. Eventually, she lowered a large heavy-duty radioscope of some sort from the ceiling and pointed it at Melia's neck, bringing up the pictures of her interior on a screen nearby.

Sharla couldn't keep herself on the sidelines; once she saw the scanned images, she stepped forward to provide her insight. "Is that...a root system?"

"It certainly looks like one." Linada's brow was heavily furrowed. "As if the connecting wire were a seed planted in the posterior afferents, growing roots to link into almost every single tract."

"Yeah, I don't see any in the efferents." Sharla pointed out a few specific regions. "They're all clear, almost like they were avoided by choice."

"Ah, so that's the pattern, thank you. I'm not as experienced in organic medicine, of course. And look here, tiny micro-filimants buried inside the afferents heading up into the head. They must...yes, they lead to all the major sensory regions of the brain, clearly avoiding all the other zones."

Melia had heard enough to ask a meaningful question. "So this device, while attached to all of my senses, is not attached to any of my automatic or motor functions?"

"Correct." Linada shook her head. "I must admit I am stumped. I've never seen anything like this device before, but it's certainly our race's techonology. Its interior is far more complex than anything I've ever seen. How did you come upon it?"

"It was part of a Face Mechon. Once its pilot was destroyed, it attached itself to me." Melia didn't think it was a good idea to tell a stranger about the voice.

"Hmm. I've seen a few Homs that were used as Core Units, but they never had anything like this." She looked at the images and data once more. "Well, I think I have as much information as I can get. Is there anything else you want to know?"

"Yes." Melia hesitated for a moment, thinking about what had already been said, but continued. "If I wished to remove the device from my person, could it be done?"

Linada stared at the display again and frowned. "Removing the plate from your chest would be straightforward, it's simply an etheral attachment that can be overcome with a correctly-tuned cancellation waveform. But the cord in your neck is connected to your circulatory system, and even more deeply connected into your nervous system. I believe that if the device wished to leave you behind, it could retract itself for minimal if any lasting injury. But to remove it ourselves...Cutting the cord is the easy part, though I have no doubt it would be an unimaginably painful and bloody experience. From there you would either live with a network of wires in your nerves, accepting the risks of having a foreign metallic network ingrained within your own, or attempt neck and brain surgery to remove it, which given what we know right now I would refuse to carry out on the grounds of its extremely high risk compared to a low chance of success."

"Then I have no choice but to continue as I am now, and hope that we discover some function to force its retreat." Melia was disappointed but not surprised at how ingrained the device was. Her expectation was that they would have to defeat Egil before it would leave her.

"If anything changes about your condition, I urge you to tell me immediately. I may not specialize in your species, but I'm fairly certain your own doctors would be quite ineffective at working with our technology." Linada turned off the display. "By the way, what are your names?"

The party went through their introductions as Linada cleaned up all the scanners.

"So you said we should meet the chief," said Dunban.

Linada nodded. "I did. He is just downstairs. Come."

Everyone descended back to the ground floor and turned into what appeared to be some sort of control centre, with several Machina paying attention to various displays and consoles. Sitting in the middle of it all was a very large man, who despite being easily described as "fat" did not look at all hampered by it.

"Woah!" Reyn jumped once he realized the round hunk of metal was a person. "He's massive..."

The man had a good laugh. "Every time. It never gets old. The name's Miqol. You could say I run the place."

Shulk couldn't hold his question in any longer. "If you run the place, then who is controlling the Mechon to attack our homes?"

Miqol's mood turned from friendly to disappointment. "We'll get to that in a moment. But first, I have to know: That's the Monado, isn't it?"

"It is." The thought entered Shulk's head that it was a bit strange for someone from Mechonis to be so unafraid of, and even unaware of, the Monado. In fact, unlike the Mechon which would either attack on sight or flee in terror, no one at all in the village even blinked at the unique weapon's appearance.

"And the destruction of the fortress on the sword. Was that your lot's doing?"

"Yes." Dunban looked up towards where the fortress was. "But Egil escaped."

Miqol's voice went even deeper. "So, you've met Egil, then?"

"We have." Shulk nodded, trying not to get too distracted by his thoughts but failing. "He claims to be the leader of Mechonis. But now that we see this village here, full of people from Mechonis who aren't trying to kill us...who is he really? Do you know him?"

"I do. In fact, he is my son. And for the safety of our people, both mine and yours...we need you to kill him."

There was a pause just long enough for the statement to sink in.

Dunban did not look very impressed. "You want us to kill your son? That is no small request."

Miqol let out a deep sigh. "There aren't many of us Machina left. The Bionis wiped most of us out, back when the two titans fought. I suppose the Bionis just didn't like the idea of life somewhere else. Lady Meyneth fought the Bionis for us, causing the two titans to wound each other and enter their current slumber."

"Who...who is Lady Meyneth?" The name triggered something in Melia's mind. It felt familiar somehow.

"The creator of Mechonis. You could say that she is the Mechonis itself."

Reyn couldn't hold himself from jumping into the conversation. "You talk like you saw all this a week ago. Ain't this whole business just an ancient myth?"

Miqol laughed again, though not as heartily as before. "Ancient to you, perhaps, but I'm quite a bit older than I look. I was there when it all happened."

"Naw, I don't believe that."

Shulk pushed things back on track. "But then why aren't you on Egil's side, trying to take revenge on us?"

"You ask why we would wish for the eradication of all innocent life on Bionis?"

"Well...I didn't think of it that way, I mean-"

"No, you don't have to explain yourself." Miqol stared into Shulk's eyes for a moment. "I can sense you know a fair bit about revenge, don't you?"

Shulk was a bit unnerved about the comment. Was it really that obvious? "...Yeah."

Miqol nodded. "We did consider it, ages ago. But we knew that no good would come of it, and buried our anger and sorrows. But Egil would not let go. He gathered up the Mechon, the tools we constructed to aid us in our daily lives, and turned them into an army against the Bionis. We tried to stop him ourselves, and many were killed. He is so blinded by his quest for revenge that not even Lady Meyneth could convince him to stop. I have long accepted the fact that only death will stop his mindless fury."

"So where is Egil now?" asked Dunban.

"He is probably in the Mechonis capital, Agniratha, trying to rebuild it all by himself. If he's not busy inventing new machines of war against you."

Shulk was now staring into the distance. "I feel sorry for him."

"You can't be like that, Shulk!" Reyn gave him a light push in the arm. "You forget what he did to us?!"

"Of course not! But hasn't he been suffering just like us?"

Dunban waved his hand to cut the developing argument and turned his attention back to Miqol. "You do know what the Monado is? Said to have once been the sword of the Bionis itself? And you still feel no fear about asking us to go after Egil?"

Miqol mumbled something to himself before answering. "Egil is strong, and the stuff he's been up to has made him even stronger. You're gonna need all of that sword's power to stand up to him. But enough talk. Take your time and think it over. I'll be here waiting."

"Alright." Shulk turned to leave, a bunch of conflicting thoughts pinballing around his mind. The others followed him.

Sharla spoke as soon as they were outside. "If you don't mind me, I need to take a bit of a brain break. Gotta relax for a bit. I'll have a wander around the village."

Riki hopped about. "Sharla has good idea. Friends clear mind before big choice."

"Don't seem like a choice to me," Reyn shrugged, "but I do feel like having a rest from all this info dump. Still tryin' to figure out how much to believe. I'll see you around."

Dunban nodded. "Let's meet up again at lunchtime. By then we should have a fair idea of what to do next."

Everyone agreed and started to go their separate ways.

As soon as the others were out of earshot, Shulk turned back for Melia, who had not yet moved. "So just to make it certain: the scan Linada did showed that the voice can't control your body? It can only listen?"

Melia wasn't paying attention; it took a few moments to realize she was being spoken to. "...er, pardon? Oh, yes. That's correct. As long as nothing changes, you need not worry about any hijacking of my person."

Shulk tilted his head. "You were thinking about something else just now, weren't you?"

"...yes. Lady Meyneth. The name...has stirred something within me, as if I recognize it from long ago despite having never heard of it before." She didn't have an answer before, but now that she had described the question out loud, it came to her. "The voice must have known her in the past."

"That means...the voice has to be a Machina." Shulk's hand snapped to his chin. "I mean it's kind of obvious when you think about it, but...that would also explain why she wants to help stop Egil. She must have found a way to stick her brain into that chestplate so she could secretly get into a Face Mechon so she could have a good shot at fighting him. And it didn't work, but now that she's with us we can use her knowledge. Well, kind of. Hopefully she can figure out a way to speak to us without having to do anything funny to you."

Melia nodded slowly. "So far, any sharing of knowledge seems to be limited to interaction within dreams. Or flashes of subconscious insight, such as me knowing there were people here before we arrived. I concur with your hope that we can find a more efficient means of communicating without sacrificing myself."

"Or having to keep taking naps the whole day. Well, if you figure it out, let us know. Or if anything changes, really."

"I will."

Shulk leaned back and forth a few times, as if he didn't know whether the conversation was over or not. He had an almost worried look on his face.

It didn't take much effort for Melia to deduce that something was wrong. "You're worried that something _will_ change, aren't you?"

"Yeah." He said it a little too fast, like he wanted to get it out before it was too late. "I...I can't stop feeling like as soon as none of us are with you, that thing will...I mean, it can't control your body now, but what's stopping it from doing it later? How...how do we know it hasn't already taken you over now that the scan's been done and we're all off-guard?" He was shaking a bit now, having accidentally terrified himself with the worst-case scenario.

Melia didn't have any reassurance ideas. He was right of course; if the voice wanted to, it could overtake all her motor functions and read her mind to form a flawless impersonation for as long as desired. And as much as she could feel the voice didn't want to do so, there was no reasonable avenue to convince anyone otherwise. The only way to prove that it was truly her would be...

"Come, Shulk, I have an idea." She moved back towards Junks.

Still a bit distraught but intrigued, Shulk followed her back into the medical lab. Linada was still present, reading some sort of document out of a folder.

"Oh, hello," she said as the two approached. "Is everything alright?"

Melia spoke with confidence. "Shulk is worried about my condition progressing to where the device can control my body to the point where it can freely impersonate me. I wish to use the scanner to prove that I am currently fine, in order for us to discuss matters with firmer trust."

"No problem." Linada moved the huge scanner into position as Melia got up onto the table. It didn't take long for the same images as earlier to appear on the screens.

Linada took a moment to look over the scans. "You look exactly the same as before. Nothing has changed."

"Thank you. I have one question for you, Linada: If the device did extend its reach into more of my systems, would I feel it?"

"I'm not sure. I would imagine that you would perceive movement of the device's roots in your nerves as either pain or spasms, depending on whether it is a sensory or motor nerve, but it's anyone's guess as to whether it would be strong enough for you to recognize. Do you remember what it was like when the device initially attached itself to you?"

Melia had to consider. "I do not. I immediately lost consciousness for a substantial amount of time."

Linada nodded slightly. "Then perhaps the pain was so extreme that your brain shut down."

"That...would actually be beneficial, I suppose. It would render it quite difficult for the device's movements to escape my notice."

Shulk had been standing around nervously the whole time, but this latest statement noticeably calmed his posture. "So there's no way anything's going to happen without you knowing about it?"

"It's just a theory at this point, but a fairly sound one." Melia looked Shulk in the eyes. "And so here is my statement to you, Shulk: Should I ever feel the device is further infringing on me, I will immediately strike myself in the head with a summoned bolt."

"What?!" Shulk instantly entered panic mode. "But- how do- isn't- won't that really hurt?"

"I would hope so." Melia took her staff and summoned a bolt, mentally moving the floating ball of lightning in front of her face. She could feel the ionization prickling her hair and feathers; the scans on the display became distorted and fuzzy from the electrical interference, but still clearly showed that no one but her was currently in control of her body. "The device clearly cannot live without a host body. With the knowledge that I will turn on said body at the slightest hint of provocation, it should not dare to do anything untoward. And it will serve as a clear signal to you and the others, even if I am alone and you do not find me until long after the fact."

"You...you say that like it might kill you."

"I would be surprised if it did not. And mildly disappointed in myself, to be honest. Some quick mental math has concluded that I should not even need to score a critical hit for a single one of my bolts to kill me. Aiming at the head would turn it into a certainty."

Shulk shook his head violently. "No, Melia, you don't have to do that. Can't you attack the chestplate itself instead? Or maybe use a weaker elemental?"

"I have considered those options. The chestplate is too insubstantial to absorb much of an ether attack; the remaining power would pass through into my lungs and heart for a much messier death. And bolts are by far my fastest elemental to summon; I am not confident in being able to create and discharge any of the others under a possibly split-second deadline. Besides, the threat of outright death as opposed to simple injury will be far more effective at keeping the device honest. In fact, this can be used as an additional safeguard: should I ever claim that I no longer think this contingency is necessary, you shall know that I have been compromised and may take appropriate action."

"Melia..." Shulk's head dropped down.

Melia took a deep breath, trying to figure out how to make him feel better. "May I remind you that I have a fair bit of trust in the device as-is. This is a contingency of last resort that I have no expectation of invoking. I fully expect this ultimatum to reduce the chance of you losing me, not increase it."

It took Shulk a minute to regain composure and look back. "If that's how you want to do it, and you think that thing will listen, I can't stop you."

"Thank you, Shulk." Melia stepped down from the operating table and dispelled the bolt that she had summoned. "And thank you for your help, Linada."

"You're welcome." Linada didn't look very happy at being privy to the negative conversation that had just transpired.

Melia slowly walked out of the room, not waiting for Shulk to follow. Eventually he did, with the two exiting Junks at about the same time.

"I need to go talk to Dunban." Shulk looked around but didn't see any obvious hints of where he was. "I'm guessing you don't know where he went?"

"I do not. But I suspect he would be in a place of solitude rather than a place of commotion."

"Yeah probably. I'll find him. I'll...see you at lunch then." Shulk moved away rather jerkily, looking back repeatedly before finally disappearing.

Melia couldn't help but feel guilty that she had dropped a large amount of stress on Shulk. Sure, she was fairly certain she'd never have to worry about the voice taking over her body now that she'd delivered her threat, but Shulk probably placed a lot of blame on the device for what happened to Fiora and would be much leerier. He was probably going to Dunban, someone who may very well know something about friends discussing suicide if captured by enemy forces, to discuss what had just transpired.

 _I should do what I can to work on opening communications with the voice._ She sat down at the edge of the deck and stared out into the open lake. _Perhaps I should rest and clear my mind, to try and minimize all other sensations except for the voice trying to speak to me._

* * *

Lunch came surprisingly quickly. Dunban led the group to the abandoned house they had stayed in overnight, where Riki had collected a bunch of edible items he had scrounged up from various places. Afterward, Melia summoned her personal ship, the Illustrious Alighting, to ensure it could reach the Fallen Arm and allow them access to the Bionis once more. But to fly directly up through the Mechonis on a tiny unarmed vessel would be foolish - they would proceed on foot and hope to find convenient locations to serve as checkpoints, as they had done before. So for now, she simply sent it back to its hangar in Alcamoth.

Morale felt surprisingly good. The Machina were all friendly to them, and there was a real positive feeling spreading that an alliance between them would be just what was needed to stop Egil.

But when the party returned to Miqol, and he asked them what their decision was, Shulk surprised them all.

"We can't act now."

Miqol looked concerned. "Why's that?"

"Egil has a new trick. It's some sort of green fluid that can be put on any weapon."

"You're right, I'd almost forgotten." Dunban almost slapped his forehead. "Mumkhar was using it against us."

"He said it can decompose any being from Bionis," said Sharla. "It took a lot of doing to not see if he was right."

Melia felt a presence approaching. A deep, ominous, otherworldly aura had boarded Junks and was approaching the room. She turned to face the door, unsure of what to expect.

"We have to go back and warn the allied force that's forming on Bionis," Shulk said, "before it's too late and they attack."

"Well, you could always ask me to do it." Dickson's smarmy drawl was immediately recognizable as he walked in as if he owned the place.

 _Of course it's you._ Melia couldn't believe she had already forgotten that Dickson carried the most dissonant ether signature she had ever seen. Even though they'd only met once before, it was a profoundly disturbing experience. Everything about him felt absolutely wrong.

"Dickson?!" Reyn was the first to get a word out. "How'd you find us here, you crazy coot?"

Dickson waved his hand dismissively. "It ain't rocket science. You fall from the fortress, you go straight down, and guess where this is? It helps that the bigwig 'n' I've had a few together."

Miqol chuckled. "A few? You've been back here more and more often lately. Not that I can complain about news from outside."

Dunban looked almost offended. "You've been here before, Dickson? You've known the Mechon and the Machina are not one and the same? Why keep that to yourself?"

"We can't have the machine-haters findin' this place, can we? Just because _I_ know there's a difference between Mechon and Machina doesn't mean the bad Homs will care. Besides, bein' the one trader who comes here makes for a nice haul for the lab. Figured it was fine to get Shulk some extra tech."

"So that's how you made the anti-Mechon weapons," Shulk reasoned. "Using Machina technology."

Dickson nodded. "Bingo. Speaking of, what about this anti-Homs weapon then? What's it about?"

"It's some sort of green fluid. It disintegrates any living tissue from Bionis. That's about all we know."

"That's good enough for me. I'll keep ya posted, me 'n' them High Entia will figure something out, don't you worry. You lot go and take down that Egg-hill or whatever his name is. Might not even need the allied force if you can off him first. Actually, that's a decent segue. The prince wants you to know that when the allied force attacks Mechonis, don't you scramble to join the ranks. Use us as a distraction to do whatever you gotta do."

Shulk nodded. "If that's Prince Kallian's plan, we won't be ruining it."

"So what's it to be then?" Dickson crossed his arms. "He wanted me to let him know. You headin' up there?"

Shulk didn't hesitate. "We are. Not all in one go, of course, so we might need to tell him later when exactly we think we'll get there. But our destination is the Mechonis capital."

Dickson leaned in. "You're gonna take down Egil?"

This time, Shulk paused. "...I don't know. He's done terrible things that can't be forgiven, but...but there might be a better way."

"Pfeh." Dickson waved his arm and stepped away a bit. "Too soft, you are. I heard he stuffed the Monado. He's a self-proclaimed leader with no fear of killing. If you blink for one second you're a goner."

He made to step towards the exit, but something appeared to catch his eye, and he instead turned towards Melia.

"That's a nice piece you got there, princess. I didn't pin you for the trophy-collectin' type. Looks like a pretty rare item, never seen anything quite like it meself on any Mechon. What's your price?"

Melia had trouble conceiving of a more offensive and insensitive way for Dickson to speak to her for the first time. First of all, he called her "princess", as opposed to any of her more proper titles such as "Your Highness", "Lady Melia", or even just her given name. He insinuated she enjoyed taking parts from destroyed Mechon as trophies, and even then only to turn around and sell them. And he at least appeared to believe that the chestplate was being treated as jewelry, despite it being completely disproportional for such a role. It was quite difficult to concoct a reasonable and rational response.

"This item is not a trophy, and neither is it for sale."

"Ah c'mon." Dickson made a subtle "give it here" gesture. "That thing's way too big on a little bird like you. I'm sure a princess has got much better sparklers in store. Besides, it looks like it might have some interesting Mechon technology in it, and I'm pretty good at figuring that stuff out."

"You heard me."

"Eh, have it your way." He took a few more steps towards the exit. "Anyway that's all I'm here for. You lot get up there and give Egil the ol' what-for. Leave all the other stuff to me. Those Mechon ain't gettin' away with anything else."

Without waiting for another word, he left.

Melia took a deep breath now that the oppressive blanketing aura was gone. It was so strange to have a single Homs emit such a ridiculosuly unnatural feeling that she couldn't believe for a second that there wasn't _something_ wrong with him, especially given how he had just treated her. Yet when she and Riki first voiced their concerns, the others brushed them off, citing years of kinship as evidence that he was of fair character. And if Kallian was willing to give him such freedom in the allied force, he must be trustworthy in some manner.

Miqol regained the party's attention. "When you do reach the capital, you might run into Vanea. My daughter, Egil's sister. She's been working with him just to keep an eye on him, but once you say my name she'll know it's finally time to join our side. She'll be a big help to you young 'uns."

The name "Vanea" felt just as familiar to Melia as Meyneth did earlier. She figured the voice must have known her as well.

"Thanks for your help, Miqol." Shulk seemed a fair bit more confident now that Dickson had brought news from away. "We'll do everything we can to stop Egil."

"I don't doubt that you will."

Linada entered the room. "Miqol, I have brought the Bulkhead Key as you requested."

Miqol made a gesture halfway between a thumbs-up and a fist pump. "Excellent. Let the Homs have it. They'll need it to start their climb up Mechonis."

"Here, Shulk." She handed Shulk a heavily-engraved metallic cylinder about as long as a pencil and twice as thick. "The road to Mechonis begins past the base of Digit 2. We have no need for this key to the Rotating Bulkhead that seals the path; use it as you will."

"Thank you." Shulk looked over the key with interest, already trying to guess at how it might function.

With nothing much more to say, the party exited Junks.

"I'm guessing we're not setting out right now?" Dunban asked.

Shulk shook his head. "No, not today. I think it'd be better for us to meet some more people here, maybe see if we can find some extra equipment or something. We can start climbing the Mechonis tomorrow, unless you want to check on Colony 6 first."

"I think they'll be fine for another few days," Sharla said. "We can head there the first time we see a good checkpoint."

"Alright. And how are you doing, Melia?"

Melia felt like Shulk had been giving her a bit too much attention today, but she supposed that was to be expected given her condition. "I am fine. In fact, I feel quite at ease at the moment. The village seems oddly comforting to me...likely another memory being effused."

Reyn eyed the chestplate with distrust. "No luck tryin' to work with the voice lady then?"

"No, but I would hardly expect much change within a few hours."

"Well...keep working on it." Shulk looked a bit worried again as the group started to move.

Melia considered telling the others of her self-destructive contingency plan, but was conflicted - would it be better to share the stress across everyone's shoulders, or to limit the overblown worry to a single person? Everyone else seemed to be in a good mood, so at the very least now was not the time. The question was whether there would ever be a good time.


	4. Stir

"Again! Again!" Riki hopped around like an overexcited child.

Melia leaned on the steering wheel of her hovering ship and shook her head. "You've already had one more turn than everyone else, Riki, and it's getting quite dark. We wouldn't want to lose you if you strayed off course."

"Awwwww." Riki looked back up the giant slide that was the Great Battle Scar before boarding the ship alongside everyone else. "Melly right. Riki disappointed but can always come back later."

"And we probably will," said Shulk, "once we've got what Bozatrox needs. But for now let's finish some of what we started back in the colonies."

Now that everyone was seated, Melia turned towards Colony 9 and accelerated up to maximum speed. With the fastest ship ever made under her control, it would only take minutes to travel from one titan's leg to the other's. It was an invaluable tool for the group's quest, allowing them to effectively teleport around the world at will and quickly solve problems that would otherwise take weeks of harsh travel and transport.

"So what's the plan for tomorrow?" Reyn asked.

"Nothing too special." Shulk flipped open his notebook of requests to the Colony 9 section. "Let's just go through the list and see what can be done. We've got access to Machina technology and items from the Fallen Arm now, so there might be stuff all over we can get cracking on."

Sharla stretched out her back. "It'll be nice to sleep in an actual bed tonight. I'll bet there's not a spot spot on the whole Mechonis."

Melia couldn't help but feel guilty that she had a sleeping bag while the rest of the party had to sleep on the raw metal construction of the mechanical titan. At least when they slept at Dunban's house, she refused to let Sharla give her possession of the bed in Fiora's room.

Of course, while the Mechonis landscape wasn't exactly friendly territory, and the sprawling catwalks and maze of elevators would be a massive pain to navigate through even without the Mechon guarding them, the presence in Melia's chestplate provided several advantages. While she had yet to directly communicate with the voice again since the first night on the Fallen Arm, she continued to have random flashes of insight, providing tidbits of information about Mechon weaknesses and nearby landmarks. She considered it akin to Shulk's visions in a way - unpredictable, not necessarily reliable, and a little disorienting, but indisputably useful.

 _I expect to not hear from the voice while on the Bionis. There's nothing there she could have any knowledge about. I should feel alone in my mind once more.  
_

* * *

It was a relief to be back in Dunban's kitchen after the toil of navigating up through the Mechonis's leg. Being back in Colony 9, a familiar stomping ground, was a massive destresser.

It was Sharla's turn to make the meals today. The group kept a fairly regular rotation of Shulk, Dunban, Reyn, and Sharla for meal duties; they excused Melia for having never made a meal before, and Riki couldn't be trusted to create something that anyone else could eat (or to keep the kitchen in a livable state afterward). They tended to use Dunban's kitchen when possible, as it was already well-stocked and it wasn't hard to keep it that way.

Sharla took some already-sliced Spicy Cabbage out of the fridge and looked it over. "This stuff won't stay fresh for much longer, let's use it up."

"Aw yeah." Reyn almost clapped his hands together, but decided it would look silly and stopped partway through to turn it into a double fist pump. "No better lunch to keep a good day rolling."

Reyn's opinion was not shared by the others. Riki looked pleased at the offering and started wobbling around in his seat, but Dunban grunted noncommitally, and Shulk and Melia both quickly lowered their heads back into their reading materials in disgust. All in all, it was about as good as anyone could hope for; the group's tastes were so disparate that no one had yet found a single meal that everybody liked, and getting an approval rate of over 50% was a pipe dream.

Sharla quickly got to work on readying the salad. While the cabbage itself was pretty much already prepared, she was still missing any sort of toppings. She went back into the fridge to find a suitable fruit.

"What would go well with Spicy Cabbage?" she asked, mostly to herself. While she was the best cook of the bunch - Spicy Cabbage by itself wasn't exactly beginner's fare - she still had a lot to learn outside of her personal favourites.

"White Plums and Juicy Grapes." Melia didn't even look up from _Ecology of Valak Mountain_. Only recently had she finally shaken off the last lingering effects of her ether deficiency suffered in Makna Forest, and she was hoping to find inspiration for her once-again battle-ready ice elementals.

There was a pause before Sharla responded, a little baffled. "You came up with that right quickly, didn't you?"

"...I suppose so." _How_ did _I come up with that idea so quickly? True, putting fruits I like on a salad I dislike is a simple way to ease the pain, but no one has ever combined White Plums with any food on the Bionis before. Why would I so easily believe it's a good idea?_

"Well, we didn't bring these plums with us to not eat them." Sharla grabed a few plums and placed them on the cutting board. From there, she began the slow process of removing the fruit from the pit inside: make two cuts to form a slice, wrestle it away from the centre, and repeat. It was clear she didn't work much with pitted fruit.

After about a minute of seeing the struggle in her peripheral vision, Melia almost sighed in exasperation as she turned a page. "Run a cut around the entire circumference and twist the two halves apart. Repeat twice to obtain eighths. Remove the newly-exposed pit."

Everyone stopped what they were doing and focused their attention on Melia in bewilderment.

"I thought you were clueless in the kitchen," said Dunban, half teasing and half impressed.

After Melia realized what she had said, she became as equally befuddled as the others. "I...am. Or...at least I'm supposed to be. I have no idea where I could have collected such information."

Shulk pointed at her chestplate. He didn't need to say anything; the implication was clear that he thought the voice within had given her another hint.

Melia shook her head. "That was my first thought too, but why would a Machina, a species that does not eat, know how to prepare food?"

"...huh, yeah." Shulk lowered his book on calf meteorology and wrinkled his face in thought. "Maybe there was once a Homs chef on the Fallen Arm, and she picked up a few facts from him?"

"Well, wherever you got it from, it works." Sharla was now motoring along, using the newly-dispensed tip to great effect. In no time at all she had the de-pitted plums sliced up and sprinkled into the salad. The grapes quickly followed, and within minutes everyone had a helping of salad in front of them.

Reyn was the first to dig in and make a comment. "Could do without the plum, but other than that it's as tasty as usual."

Riki was clearly trying thard to not scarf his whole helping down all at once. "Plum-grape-salad very tasty!"

"Oh yes." Sharla looked equally as pleased with the novel combination. "It just all works together. I'll remember this."

Shulk turned his fork around disinterestedly. "It's okay. Better than just the cabbage would be alone I guess."

Dunban looked equally nonplussed. "It's passable."

Melia didn't expect much, but was pleasantly surprised to find that her tongue didn't burn off quite as bad as it usually did when eating Spicy Cabbage. "The assembly is still not to my liking, but the permeating presence of the sour and juicy fruit dulls the painful spice admirably." Without thinking about it, she stood up and darted to a cupboard. "Do we have any nutmeg? Or parsley? One of those would bring out the fruity taste even more. Ah, here we are." She found a shaker of nutmeg and went to sit back down.

"Okay Melia, I've seen enough." Sharla put her fork down a bit harder than she intended. "You clearly aren't nearly as culinarily hopeless as we believed. Dinner's on you tonight."

"Er...what?" Melia had finished sprinkling the nutmeg over her salad and was about to test it. She suddenly realized that she'd done it again - shown cooking knowledge out of nowhere, for the third time in the last ten minutes.

"Works for me." Reyn held his hand up. "All in favour?"

Riki and Sharla raised their hands with gusto. Shulk lifted his up a bit and wavered it around in indesiciveness, creeping his other hand towards the nutmeg shaker.

Dunban wasn't convinced. "That's a pretty big ask of her, you realize? A few pieces of advice over a salad doesn't compare to cooking a meal for six."

"I didn't say I'd make her go it alone," Sharla countered. "I'd stick around for when she needs help."

Melia instantly felt slighted, and rebuffed without thinking. "I don't _need_ your help."

Sharla appeared insulted for a split second, but her face quickly changed to a wide smile. "You go girl, break that shell you've been hiding in. I look forward to seeing what's for dinner."

Everyone appeared to consider the decision a done deal and went back to eating; Shulk was going a bit faster now that he had dumped a heap of nutmeg over everything.

Melia paused for a moment to consider what she'd just done. As a result of acting uncharacteristically impulsively, she was now expected to do something in about five or six hours that she'd never done before - and succeed. And the nature of her reaction blocked her from asking for help. It was a very unappealing scenario.

At least the voice's cooking instinct appeared to be good; the nutmeg she had applied made the meal taste almost good enough for her to give it a "neutral" rating. Given that Spicy Cabbage was one of the things she hated the most, this was impressive. If she could find a way to harness that instinct, she might not have much trouble at all.

* * *

The clock passed four-thirty. Dunban's kitchen sat clean and empty, with everyone helping out various colony residents. Except one person.

Melia looked around the empty kitchen with a twinge of interest overshadowed by fear. She wasn't all that opposed to trying something new in these unusual times. But now that she'd had a few hours to think about it, failure seemed all but inevitable, and the penalty would be very harsh: a disgusting or outright inedible dinner, followed by disdain and disappointment from the others.

She pretty much had no idea where to start. She had made reasonable preparations by flying up to Alcamoth and purchasing a pair of bright blue cooking gloves to belay her anxiousness over touching raw food, but that was about all she had figured out. The occasional flash of insight over what someone else was doing at the time didn't help her magically determine what to cook or how to do it.

She reasoned that if she could get herself into a zone where her subconscious mind could take over, and it triggered the buried cooking instinct, she might be able to ride it out for as long as she could avoid thinking about what she was doing. But this was of course a challenge in itself - how does one activate a subconscious instinct? Presumably it would have to be triggered by doing something reasonably related. But that would mean she'd have to start before knowing how to start. There were a few cookbooks in the kitchen that she could refer to, but a preliminary glance revealed they were all geared towards experts and not newcomers, and consciously following directions would almost certainly keep her too actively engaged for the instinct to surface.

The one beacon of positivity was that she felt surprisingly comfortable in Dunban's kitchen, as if she already knew where all the ingredients and tools were. It wasn't a feeing she could remember from any previous visits, so it must have been tied to the voice's cooking knowledge somehow. Of course this didn't made a whole lot of sense beyond first thought, since the odds of the voice having visited this exact Homs house in the past were unfathomably miniscule, if not outright zero.

Time passed by as Melia paced around in nervousness and indecisiveness. What was reasonably simple for a beginner to try? What was something that at least two of her friends would like? What was something that could be turned into something else without too much hassle if something went wrong? She really didn't have an answer to any of these questions, aside from vague ideas of the party's preferences: Shulk liked bitter things and hated vegetables, Dunban disliked fruits and sweetness, Sharla loved fruits and anything spicy, Riki would eat almost anything, and Reyn was literally her exact opposite. It was like trying to maximize a mathematical function of twelve variables in a world where she barely knew how to do addition.

Once it became five o'clock, she slapped the counter in frustration and threw on her cooking gloves (overtop of her regal gloves, of course). _I'm out of time to dither. I'll just throw something together, and if it turns out horrible, too bad, I can blame the others for pressuring me into doing this. Lasagna seems simple enough and is expected to look ugly. I'll need a pan, cheese, ground meat, tomato sauce..._

She turned on the oven for preheating, collected the ingredients, and began work. The Armu meat was instantly tenderized by blasting it with a bolt, followed by grinding it up and mixing it together with powdered cheese and some eggs in a bowl. The substance was browned by submerging a flare into the bowl, which worked a lot faster than leaving it on the stove, followed by dumping half a jar of tomato sauce into the mix and stirring. Once the mixture was fully blended, she haphazardly layered it into a pan with noodle strips. With the pan filled with several alternating layers, she shoved the dish into the oven, alongside another flare to compensate for the lost time sputtering in indecision. Finally, she collected all the dirty dishes together and chucked them into the sink, washing them thoroughly.

After putting away all the cleaned and dried dishes, Melia stood back and considered what she'd just done. _...wow. That was...surprisingly easy. Did the cooking instinct lead me through that entire sequence? I feel like there was very little thinking involved at all. The time just flew by.  
_

Unsurprisingly, Reyn was the first to wander into the room, nose-first. "Oooh, that smells good, Melia. Nice, meaty...aroma. Knew you had it in you."

Melia could feel herself blushing. "That's...a bit premature, don't you think?"

"No way. Smell's half the deal, isn't it?"

"I suppose so."

Dunban was next to walk in, also nasally intrigued. "What's this, now? Smells like lasagna. Good choice."

"OOOOOH!" Riki flew in like he was shot out of a cannon and started dancing on the table. "Riki has no idea what this is, but he likes it already!"

 _Could we all calm down for a moment?_ Melia didn't really have anything to respond with; it was a bit unnerving to be collecting so much praise for what was essentially an unfounded preview. She continued to mentally orbit the flare inside the oven around the pan, cooking the dish at a heat beyond what Dunban's oven was naturally capable of.

Sharla and Shulk both arrived at about the same time. Neither of them made a verbal comment, but Sharla nodded with anticipatory approval, while Shulk seemed a bit mystified at what the smell was.

Reyn put himself down in a chair. "So when's it gonna be done? Can't wait."

"Er..." Melia hadn't been paying attention to the time. "It...shouldn't be too long now?" _It doesn't smell burnt, so that's a good sign...but how do I know when to stop? No, stop thinking about it. Do something else so hopefully the instinct resurfaces._ She went to the cupboards and started setting the table.

Just as she was pouring the last of the drinks, she came to the decision that now was the time. She opened the oven only to get blasted back by the sheer heat wave it emitted. Everyone could feel it was way hotter than it was supposed to be.

"I hope you haven't broken my oven," Dunban said with a mixture of chiding and worry. "That doesn't feel normal."

Melia took the flare out of the oven and dispelled it, just so everyone could see she hadn't modified the oven itself. She then summoned two wind elementals as well as an ice one, and began using them to suck the broiling air out of the oven, chilling it to a reasonable tempurature while also dispersing it through the kitchen. Once the job was done, she could reach into the now-quite-cool oven and extract the pan, filled with a well-cooked and already-cool-enough-to-eat lasagna. Becoming a little excited, she placed it in the centre of the table - before realizing that something was very wrong.

As it turned out, all the instinct in the world couldn't make up for a lack of skill and practical experience. The lasagna didn't hold its shape properly before it had set, instead dissolving into an indistinct mess of yellow, red, and brown; it looked more like a meat-and-noodles cake than a layered pasta concoction. Presumably, she hadn't layered the noodles tightly enough, and the movements of the flare in the oven produced asymmetrical heat waves that helped the mixture roll about instead of settling in place.

Before Melia could react to the realization she'd messed up, Sharla jumped in. "It's a bit different, but it's a lasagna alright. Looks tasty."

Reyn nodded. "Oh yeah. Bring it on."

Despite the encouraging words, Melia's mood was still soured from what she considered a failure. She slowly took a knife and extremely carefully began to cut sloppy, indistinct slices out of the pan and onto six plates.

Riki was the first to have a portion placed in front of him. He leaned forward to snarf it, but decided against it and jolted back, rocking his chair back and forth. "Nonono. Melly taste first. It only fair!"

Melia completely expected someone to say something of the sort. It was indeed only fair, after all - punish the cook for failing, not the guests. With everyone else served and anxious to get it over with, she sat herself down a bit too quickly, removed her cooking gloves, lopped off a gob of her own serving with her fork, and resignedly stuffed it in her mouth.

She didn't know what she expected, but it wasn't half bad. She'd used too much sauce, and she didn't really like red meat to begin with, but the noodles and cheese combined to stand out unexpectedly well from the sludge.

Reyn waited for a moment and fired his prepared joke. "Well she ain't dead yet, that's good enough for me." He began filling his gob.

The others all joined in. Silence fell as the first mouthfuls were taken.

Riki was the first to break the silence. "Melly has Heropon stamp of approval!"

"I'm impressed," said Dunban. "Worlds better than my first attempt at lasagna. Of course, my being fifteen and disinterested probably had something to do with it."

"Impressed? How about astonished." Sharla took another small bite before continuing. "I have to be honest, I expected something smaller and a bit undercooked. But this is perfectly well-done. You must be gifted at this, Melia."

Reyn's cheeks were stuffed. "Uwh yhh, ths ys lk dh bsp-" He received an elbow from Sharla, and didn't bother to continue.

Shulk didn't seem interested in making a comment, instead absent-mindedly feeding himself like he was trying to simultanteously crack a physics problem written on the far wall. Sauce was aimlessly painted around his mouth.

Melia chose to interpret Shulk's lack of reaction as indifference; he was continuously touted by the others as having no taste, of course. So all in all, it was a reasonably successful dinner, especially for a first try.

"So what do _you_ think, Melia?" prodded Sharla. "It's your creation, after all, you must have an opinion."

"Well, I..." It took a bit to collect the opinion together. "Lasagna was never really one of my preferred dishes, and I can see many areas of improvement. But I am...pleased at how well it did turn out, compared to my initial expectations."

Shulk finally spoke. "It's perfect."

Melia couldn't help but be confused, and the others appeared likewise. "How so?"

"It's...it's just the way I like it. Without the defined layers, it's an easily-controllable blob instead of a bunch of sheets that spurt out everywhere when you try to cut it." He shook his head and chuckled. "Fiora would always get upset when I scrambled it up before taking a bite, like it ruined the art or something."

It was the first time that Shulk had mentioned Fiora since the the party left the Fallen Arm. The way that he appeared to do it without hesitation was a bit of a surprise to all, but it gave off the positive impression that perhaps he was quickly moving past it.

"...I see." A thought had manifested in Melia's mind, and it grew to completion very quickly: it was not the Machina spirit in her mind that she was taking cooking inspiration from, it was Fiora's. The idea didn't make a whole lot of sense, but it did seem distantly possible - the chestplate could have preserved a slice of Fiora's personality and knowledge. It would explain why she didn't feel the instinct until the first time returning to Dunban's kitchen. She began to wonder how much of Fiora she could be carrying around - certainly not too much, or she would've felt it far earlier than now.

Of course, now that she was thinking about it, her mind moved onto considering what else she might want to try cooking. She never cared much for the subject as a child; she knew it was very messy, and it didn't seem worth learning in a world where she'd always have someone to make her meals for her. But now that she'd received a big head start, and she really didn't leave much of a mess at all despite her choice of attempt being a naturally messy one, her interest was piqued. In addition, her instinct to use elementals in the kitchen was a fascinating topic that she wanted to further explore - she'd never heard of similar being done since the usage of nebulae was banned from the royal kitchens.

And...and maybe stepping in to fill a position last held by Fiora would steer Shulk towards her. But it might instead simply continuously remind him about the past and drive him to further hold onto his departed one. It seemed like a gamble. Was it worth taking?

"I...am interested in attempting to cook something else again tomorrow."

Shulk, whose turn was next, swallowed his most recent mouthful and nodded. "Go ahead. It'll be way better than whatever I'd be scraping up."

The others all agreed; they would rather have another taste of Melia's nascent culinary skill than Shulk's known lack thereof.

Melia felt an odd sort of stir in her chest. It felt quite unusual to possess a skill that had a practical real-world purpose that others appreciated, yet that a royal was not expected to have by default. It made her feel much more of an asset to the party as a whole - it wasn't as if she felt useless before, but she did sometimes feel like all she did was check the group's diversity boxes for "ether attacker", "High Entia", and "friends in high places".

She made a mental note to try even harder tonight to communicate with the voice in a dream, with her new burning question of how much of Fiora had been drawn into her. She almost thought she was getting somewhere last night, finding herself in a red-lit landscape, but it quickly morphed into something else that she couldn't remember. Hopefully finding the cooking instinct for the first time would help stir something up.


	5. Connection

Melia looked up at the huge golden gate as it spun open, sensing the twinge of past familiarity that heralded receiving knowledge from the mystery voice.

"This is...the First Zebrai Bulkhead."

"You must have a traveller in there," Dunban mused, "for her to know every landmark we've come across like the back of her hand."

Melia didn't think so. "I think it's more akin to the species' theoretically indefinite lifespan. It's not difficult for one to become familiar with one area of the Bionis in fifty years, so when extended to a thousand years..."

"I guess that's true."

Shulk looked up through the sunlight falling across the newly revealed long open-air corridor. "Looks like this connects straight through the Mechonis' hip. Wow, those elevators are really shooting us up fast."

"Looks like a great checkpoint to set," said Reyn. "Open air, no Mechon to speak of. I bet we oughta push on though, eh?"

"Yeah, we don't need to take a break yet. Might as well-" Shulk interrupted himself as he dashed back towards where they came from. "Get down!"

Before anyone else could react, the floor behind Shulk exploded in a huge blast of energy.

"There _are_ Mechon here!" Dunban turned to face the corridor as everyone prepared for battle. "Can anyone see them?"

Shulk pointed up. "Right above us."

A Faced Mechon, one the group had never seen before, descended from the sky and landed in front of the group. It had a sharp face and was coloured an aqua-like green. Unlike the previous Faces, it was holding no weapons, instead equipped with two long-barrelled laser cannons on its back.

"You did well to evade me," he said. "Just what you'd expect from he who wields the Monado."

Sharla gasped and clapped a hand to her mouth, unable to contain a breathy "That voice!".

Melia felt a similar pang of strange feelings. It was the first time she'd come upon a Faced Mechon since the voice had moved in, and the immediate instinct it provided was sorrow. She shook her head to try and oust the emotion before it could distract from whatever was upcoming.

"What's the plan then, Shulk?" asked Reyn. "There's someone inside, isn't there?"

Shulk nodded. "We fight. But don't kill him."

"Just what I thought."

Reyn tried to be the first to move in, but the enemy leaped into the air and landed at the far end of the corridor. From there, he bent down and began charging up a cannon blast.

Shulk pointed towards the nearest obstacle, one of many freestanding walls. "Get to cover, guys!"

Everyone ran to the safety zone. But while they were now out of the Faced Mechon's aim, they had to contend with a bunch of lesser Mechon that had been hiding behind the obstacle. They weren't much trouble, but the distraction was unwelcome, and much care had to be taken to not accidentally step out into the line of major fire.

Once the pocket was clear, it wasn't too challenging to dash towards the next piece of cover before the Faced Mechon could ready another shot; presumably it couldn't keep its charge readied indefinitely, or it would have fired immediately upon seeing them. From there, the fight fell into a pattern of slowly moving up the corridor from wall to wall, keeping out of sight as much as possible while dealing with any Mechon stationed in the safe zones. It was pretty clear this is what the Faced Mechon wanted - to wear them out before even reaching him - but there wasn't much choice in the matter.

Reyn peeked out from behind the final barrier. "Alright this is it, no more cover, just us and him."

"Spread out as we approach," Dunban suggested, "so one shot can't get us all."

"Yeah, that's-"

Reyn was cut off by Sharla dashing in with weapon stowed.

"Sharla, what're-" Reyn groaned and followed, motioning for the others to join him. "Forget it, move!"

As the party rushed to catch up, Melia had a thought - this sort of foolish action was exactly like those Shulk showed towards Face Nemesis, placing affection before common sense. While it was likely to be revealed within a few moments anyways, she guessed that this Faced Mechon was piloted by Gadolt, Sharla's fiancé believed to be lost in the destruction of Colony 6. It would explain both the choice of weapon and Sharla's distracted behaviour since the battle began.

The Faced Mechon didn't appear interested in fighting as the frenzied Sharla approached and fell to her knees.

"Gadolt! It's you, isn't it? Please answer me! Let me see you!"

For a moment it seemed like there wouldn't be a response, but then a rugged man appeared from the rear of the unit, climbing up to stand on its shoulder. Like the other transformed Homs they'd seen so far, his body was mostly replaced with mechanical components coloured to match his suit, though his right arm appeared fairly intact.

"Gadolt!" Sharla fell down to her elbows and looked up. "I knew you were alive."

"So that's Gadolt?" Reyn wondered.

Gadolt did not appear to care about what was being said. "Lord Egil's will is to destroy the Monado. Nothing less."

"What does that mean?" Shulk could tell something was wrong; a Homs would never willingly call Egil a "lord". "What's Egil done to you?"

"The true enemy of our world is disorder." Gadolt completely ignored the other half of the conversation and continued speaking in monotone. "It is my duty to eliminate the cause of the disarray and restore integrity to the universe."

Sharla was back on her feet and screaming in frustration. "That's not you, Gadolt! Come back to us!"

"The time has come to restore order!"

Gadolt raised his arm, which caused the Faced Mechon to begin charging up its right cannon.

"NO, STOP!"

"Get down!" Reyn attempted to force Sharla to move out of the way.

The shot was fired, sending a huge ball of bluish energy towards the unprepared group.

Melia suddenly had a singular thought fill her entire mind, far heavier than any other subconscious message that the voice had passed to her.

 ** _PROTECT_**

The train of thought had no time to look at any alternatives to her first instinct. Melia leaped to the front of the party and spun her staff around in the air, creating the familiar twelve hexagonal panels of Reflection around herself. Independently sensing the incoming attack, they swung together and interposed, forming a barrier large enough to protect a single person around her. Melia didn't see how this was going to help, since there wasn't nearly enough time to gather everyone directly behind her, and the attack felt a talent art and so would just cut through the shield like nothing. But she'd done what she could and had to trust that the voice knew what it was doing.

Just as the blast was about to connect with the barrier, a wave of red energy burst forth from the chestplate. As it passed over the panels, they each took on a red specularity and ballooned in size, each one as large as the full barrier just was. Now enhanced, the panels naturally assumed a new defensive formation: two protecting each member of the party, angled towards the predicted epicentre.

The attack hit the barrier in front of Melia and turned into a deafening fireball. The world turned white for several seconds.

After what felt like a few minutes, the blinding light started to fade away, leaving an unpleasant smoky smell behind. Everyone was defensively hunched over on the floor, seemingly unharmed. Gadolt and his Faced Mechon were nowhere to be seen.

Shulk was the first to get up. "Is everyone okay?"

Most of the party assented with murmured "yes"es as they righted themselves.

Melia sat up but didn't move further. She felt more exhausted than she could remember in a good long while, but at the same time it was fading more quickly than expected. The reason was obvious: she had to supply some of her own energy to power whatever defensive art the chestplate released. It was a bit disappointing that the drain was so extreme; it precluded the ability from being used on a regular basis. Maybe she could work with the voice to harness and train it somehow?

Having not yet received an answer from her, a worried Shulk kneeled down to look Melia in the face. "Are you okay, Melia?"

"Oh. Er, yes." She quickly stood up, a bit red in the face from having accidentally ignored him. "Sorry, I was...rather spent."

"I'm not surprised." Shulk nodded and also got up, still making eye contact a lot stronger than he normally did. "Whatever you did saved us."

Melia figured it would be best to explain. "I utilized Reflection, and the voice added her own power to boost its effectiveness. I wouldn't assume that it can be done again in the future, but if so, it-"

"YOU!"

The new female voice had no obvious source, but it became clear after a few seconds. A Machina woman dashed in as if from nowhere and violently pinned Melia to the ground, holding some sort of large white-hot throwing blade to her throat.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO SILVER FACE AND LADY MEYNETH?!"

Melia was in a fair bit of pain from having a person-sized hunk of metal slam into her and bash her head against the floor; she had no comprehension of what had been said. Her instinctive reaction was to spew forth a mess of nonsensical syllables.

The look on the Machina's face suddenly changed from unhinged anger to a mixture of shocked regret and pained sorrow. She immediately stowed her weapon and carefully lifted Melia into a sitting position. "I...I am so gravely sorry, Lady Meyneth. I hope you can forgive my rash behaviour towards this most unexpected circumstance."

Consciousness started to move back into Melia's mind. "...Pardon me, but I am quite confused as to what has just transpired. Did you just attack me only to immediately back off?" The metallic face in front of her seemed eerily familiar.

The Machina quickly presented a more understanding and friendly expression, and helped Melia return to her feet. "Yes, I did. It was a case of mistaken assumptions, and I deeply apologize. I owe you all an explanation for my actions."

Dunban was the first of the party to step in. "Are you Vanea? Miqol suggested we keep an eye out for you."

"I am." Vanea looked in the direction of the Fallen Arm. "So my father has sent you here?"

"Yes," Shulk responded. "We agreed that Egil must be stopped, so he helped us out. He said you were working with Egil but would join us once we got up here. I'm hoping you have some inside knowledge about what he's doing."

Vanea nodded slowly. "I don't know what he's doing right now, but I did do a lot of work on Faced Mechon. And I will answer your questions, but first I must ask one of my own: What happened to Face Nemesis? I constructed her with the finest materials and craftmanship available as the newest of all Faces - what power could have destroyed her so utterly for Lady Meyneth to have been forced away?"

"It was Egil," Melia answered. "Both the Homs pilot and the voice controlling her rebelled in his eyes, and he unleashed his full force into them."

Vanea accepted the answer but seemed discontent about it. "You speak as if you do not know the people involved, Lady Meyneth. Has your memory been damaged by the transfer of your host?"

"Why are...You say..." The pieces came together in Melia's head. "Is the voice within this chestplate Lady Meyneth?" It suddenly felt very obvious, making it likely to be the case.

Vanea was newly confused. "If you do not know, then...Who am I speaking with right now?"

"My name is Melia. We had never heard the name Meyneth before landing on the Fallen Arm."

"Then...then Lady Meyneth remains dormant within her vessel?"

"She does indeed. Only once have I managed to communicate directly with her, when I was first saddled with her. Since then I have only felt her presence in the form of instincts...such as just now, when I spoke in your language to gain your trust." _And apparently just now again to realize that it was a language instead of a random assortment of sounds._

"I see." Vanea shook her head. "I was the one who placed Lady Meyneth within the core of Face Nemesis. She wished for the freedom and avenue to change Egil's path. I never expected her vessel to require migration, but I did plan for it, providing her the means to survive within a being from either Bionis or Mechonis. But she was supposed to have the capability to fully control an organic body with the same ease as a mechanical one. If you have only felt her presence in minimal ways, then perhaps the organic interface is faulty. And this could be a significant detriment to her goal."

Melia recalled her diagnosis. "We met with Linada at the earliest opportunity. All evidence suggests that Lady Meyneth has chosen to keep me unfettered. She can see and hear as I do, but cannot force me to take action."

Vanea considered the statement. "Lady Meyneth was always a champion of kindness, and it did pain her even then to require full control over the Core Unit of Face Nemesis. I wouldn't put it past her to restrain herself, even at risk to her success, for the benefit of a stranger from another world. Very well. My curiosities for the moment are fulfilled."

Shulk wasted no time. "So what's the deal with the Faced Mechon then? Why does Egil use them? And why did the green one act so differently than the rest?"

"It all comes down to the Monado," Vanea began. "The Monado is ineffective against all the races of Bionis, Homs and High Entia alike. After his defeat a year ago at Sword Valley, Egil theorized he could exploit this weakness by integrating organic life from Bionis into his Mechon."

"It worked pretty well too," said Reyn. "Metal Face was a massive pain everywhere he showed up, and Xord was no pushover either."

"Those Faces were early models, experimental more than anything," Vanea continued. "Even a year old, their traits proved effective for their chosen task of combating the Monado. But many Faces retained memories of their former Homs lives, and it was their undoing."

"Very true," added Dunban. "As we pushed him back, it became obvious that Mumkhar's only goal was to take the Monado for himself. He didn't care much for Egil."

Vanea nodded. "Egil decided that memories and emotion are nothing but a hindrance to the proper operation of the Faces. He has begun to erase all memories from the newer models, to ensure their loyalty and effectiveness. The one you have just survived, Jade Face, is the first you have seen under this new regime. He knows nothing of his previous life as a Homs."

"You're lying!" Sharla's knees were shaking just a little bit, and her jaw was shuddering slightly. "Gadolt would never try to hurt us!"

Shulk looked down over the Monado. "But that's all changed. The Monado can hurt people now."

"Yes, it can." Vanea also looked across the blade's relatively new shape, both hopeful and worried. "Zanza broke its only constraint, that it cannot harm those who share his blood - as all of you do. Er, most. I am...not quite sure whether Nopon fall under his domain."

"Riki hope not! Riki no think that big ugly giant man could be super-great-daddypon!"

"Regardless, he most certainly is ancestor to the rest of you." Vanea looked up towards the Mechonis's head, ignoring the building confusion amongst the others. "But perhaps the rest of this topic would be better covered once we reach Agniratha. It will be quicker to show than to explain, and you must know well the true history of the two titans before you can hope to stop Egil."

Melia remained silent. It was rather challenging to come to terms with the fact that her body was housing the goddess of the Mechonis itself, and Vanea's dialogue was raising some of Meyneth's scattered memories to her mind. Most of them were simply living amongst the Machina and being worshipped by them, which as royalty wasn't out of place for her to experience secondhand. But one in particular greatly troubled her. It was from the perspective of the Mechonis itself, standing idle and watching the Bionis draw its blade and take the first swing, with a cloud of flying creatures streaming out of its interior that could not be clearly resolved but she somehow knew were Telethia. If this was indeed a memory, its implication was clear: the Bionis started the battle against an unwilling opponent.

"We should get going then," Dunban said. "There's only going to be more resistance as we keep climbing."

"Then it is good we have met," Vanea responded. "I don't wish to sound conceited, but a guide that walks alongside you will be more effective than a smattering of Lady Meyneth's memories and instincts filtered through another person."

"Sounds good." Shulk nodded. "And it looks like you have a weapon too."

"I do." She retrieved the object from inside her right arm and unfolded it; it could now be resolved as some sort of three-bladed wheel. "It is a Pyroscopic Boomerang. Its heated blades are capable of cutting through most substances that are borne by the mobile beings on our titan, and it bears a limited capacity for returning to an easily-catchable position once thrown. I am not much of a fighter, but should things turn dire, I will support you as best I can. And I will glady give my life to protect you, Melia."

Melia forced herself out of her introspection. "That's...brave of you to offer, but-"

"No, I mean it." Vanea's face was serious. "You are a victim of terrible circumstance, to be the emergency carrier of a soul from another world. I will not allow anyone else to be forced to bear your burden."

"...very well."

Riki turned to point to the currently unopened gate. "New friend lead friends onward!"

"I have one more question before we really get going," Shulk said. "Who is Silver Face?"

Vanea had to think for a moment. "Oh, I did let that name slip by, didn't I. Yes, Silver Face was the original title for Face Nemesis. Lady Meyneth requested a more powerful name, befitting of a challenger to Egil - much like he did the same to Gold Face, naming it Yaldabaoth after our grandfather."

Reyn chuckled. "When you put it like that, Metal Face sounds like a downright sissy."

"Metal Face was the first of all Faces. Were he to be created today, he would likely be named Black Face or similar, but at the time Egil did not believe they needed to be given new names. Xord's wandering mind forced Egil to reconsider, giving him the name Bronze Face to try and separate him from his former life. Bronze Face then began calling Mumkhar Metal Face in jest, and despite his dislike of it, it stuck."

Vanea continued to discuss the history and finer details of the Faced Mechon with the party as they continued inward. Surely, something she knew would be useful once they came upon Jade Face again.

* * *

Melia glanced back at the clock. Eleven-fifteen. Not too much longer to go; one more game was probably safe. She collected the cards and began shuffling.

It was a strange feeling to be playing solitaire games in Dunban's kitchen late at night, the only light source being the flare in the staff she had propped up between her back and the chair. But she needed to keep herself up for a bit longer than usual and didn't want to disturb her roommate Sharla.

The cards were shuffled and dealt to form the FreeCell tableau. Unsurprisingly, Melia found the game much easier when played with the Homs deck, with its two fewer suits than the High Entia one.

About halfway through the game, the fourth stair from the top gave its distinctive creak.

 _Who would be coming downstairs at this hour?_ Melia could use her ethersense to find out, but she decided to just wait the extra five seconds instead.

Somehow, it wasn't a surprise to see Shulk come into view, wearing his fairly boring-looking set of blue pyjamas and socks. By contrast, he appeared very surprised to find Melia in the kitchen.

"What are you doing up, Melia? Is something wrong?"

Melia couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. "Am I not allowed to control my own sleep schedule?"

"Uh...I mean, it's just different than usual, that's all." Shulk began shuffling towards the fridge, his expression gloomy.

 _I shouldn't have done that._ "I apologize for being short with you, Shulk. I interpreted your question as infringing on my decision-making rights."

"Yeah, I get it." Shulk sat down with a cup half-full of milk. "You're used to people telling you what to do, not people who are worried about you."

Melia wasn't sure whether she appreciated the sentiment. It was a true fact - she wasn't used to being around people who actually appeared to care about her well-being, and Shulk was certainly one of those people. But at the same time, she didn't like continuously having her status questioned.

Shulk continued. "So I just couldn't sleep, so I'm trying the milk trick. But you're still fully dressed and everything, and I've never seem you stay up this much past the rest of us before. What's up?"

Melia sighed; she didn't exactly want to get anyone's hopes up, but she couldn't ignore such a direct question. "I am hoping to increase my chances of finding Meyneth tonight by having my dream cycle begin exactly at midnight. There's not much science to back up the idea that midnight is a special time for directed dreaming, but I have not had much luck with any other techniques I've researched thus far."

"That's interesting." Shulk held the cup in both his hands to warm it up gently. "So everything's still okay in there then?"

"As far as I can tell, yes."

Shulk nodded slowly. "Y'know, sometimes I wonder what it must feel like to have someone else living inside you. But then I realized today that I might already know."

Melia continued to play the game laid out on the table. "How so?"

"Well, it's like...I kind of think that I picked up some of Zanza. Or maybe the Monado did, and I'm feeling it through that way. But sometimes I think I hear him telling me what to do. It's all obvious stuff I already know, like "don't leave that Mechon standing" or "remember what Egil did to you", so I don't really need it, but it's still there."

"That is far more overt than my experience," Melia said. "I only sense Meyneth's presence as instinct and recommendation, not direct communication and orders."

Shulk shrugged. "Well I mean we're both from Bionis so I'm not surprised there's a better connection there. And it could be a personality difference too; maybe Meyneth _can_ tell you things directly but doesn't want to."

"Very true." Melia moved the last card before the finishing sequence became obvious, then checked the clock - not enough time for another game. She decided to spend the remaining time playing out the final moves, rather than simply end the game immediately. She wasn't sure what to make of Shulk having a similar experience as her. It made a degree of sense, but at the same time didn't feel as genuine.

Once all the piles were completed, she stacked them up to finish the deck and gave them a last shuffle before placing them in the middle of the table where they were last left. She then looked up to see that Shulk was still sitting motionless, staring at her. It was a little creepy; Shulk generally didn't stare at things he wasn't actively trying to figure out, and it sure didn't look like he was thinking very much.

 _Please stop that. It's...unnerving._ "I must be on my way before it is too late."

"Okay then, goodnight." With no sudden movements that suggested he had been staring by accident, Shulk picked up his cup and began to head back upstairs. "Good luck with finding Meyneth."

Melia dispelled the flare, leaving the kitchen in darkness, and waited before she heard a door close before going upstairs herself. A thought was trying to surface that it was actually quite soothing to have Shulk stare at her, that it was comforting to have command of his attention without having to do anything. But she had to work to get it stuffed - she couldn't have anything interfere with her upcoming attempt to speak with Meyneth, least of all a confirmation bias-fuelled sensation that he cared more about her well-being than any of the others'.

* * *

 _Melia looked around at the featureless metal landscape with its red sun. Things looked good so far - hopefully her luck would continue, and her new knowledge of the voice's name and nature would help her make the connection.  
_

 _"Hello?" she asked into the void. "Are you there, Lady Meyneth? Goddess of the Mechonis?"_

 _There was no response, but the red sun above fluctuated, as if trying to spit something out._

 _Melia waited for something else to happen for what felt like a few minutes before wondering if it would be best to simply be direct. "I wish to inquire about the nature of your presence within me."_

 _The sun immediately lost about half of its brightness and continued to warble as if made of some sort of suspended liquid. It then continued to shrink and darken until Melia was barely able to see her own hands._

 _But unlike the last time she'd been in this dream world with a dimming sun, it continued to persist. And it almost looked like a person was emerging from the shadows._

 _Melia blinked a few times and stared hard into the darkness. It was certainly another person's silhouette. There wasn't nearly enough light to make out any colour or detail, but it was a long-haired woman with a flowing gown and several ring-like decorations floating around her. By itself these two attributes were interesting, if only because she had never before seen a Machina in a dress._

 _Meyneth approached slowly until she was within comfortable conversation distance, though even this close her face was featurelessly dark._

 _"I can give you one answer tonight," she whispered._

 _Melia understood; Meyneth probably had to expend a fair amount of energy to even initiate the mental connection with her, let alone maintain it long enough to converse. And in the grand scheme of things, using that energy to protect the party against massive laser blasts was far more important than direct contact with her. She quickly decided which of her burning questions would be solved today._

 _"How much of Fiora did you draw into me?"_

 _It was impossible to tell if the light went even dimmer, but it did feel like it became even harder to see anything._

 _Meyneth appeared to look up into the sun. "Exactly what she wanted to preserve, no more and no less. It is ingrained in your mind as if it has always been, completely indistinguishable from all else from my perspective; I did not control the transfer myself, and so cannot tell you exactly what it consists of. But I do know this: She declined my offer to carry on her entire state of being. She did not want to be reduced to a third voice in your body, with no forseen avenue of future departure. She wanted to be freed from this world and remembered as a hero, saving only the experience and knowledge that she wished to pass on. You possess none of her instincts, personality, desires, or other conscious characteristics."_

 _"Thank you." Melia rushed to get the words out before the world went pitch black. In the moments before the inner reality dissolved completely, she considered what knowledge she could have been granted. She never felt anything special come to her even when in Fiora's bedroom, at didn't recall having any extra insights about any people in Colony 9, not even Shulk - perhaps cooking experience was all that Fiora wanted her to have. Or maybe there was something else that had simply not yet been triggered.  
_


	6. Replicas

Miqol turned away from the screen he had been looking at. "Ah, Shulk, good to see you as always. Here alone today?"

Shulk tilted his head in a "somewhat" manner. "Not completely, Dunban and Riki are around somewhere. But the rest of us are helping people in Alcamoth right now. Helps us get more done to split up."

"Of course. Divide and conquer, spread your resources, all that stuff. Good to hear you're not just charging up to Agniratha without preparation. Any big news from away?"

"Not really." Shulk thought for a moment. "The allied force is coming together well last I heard, but other than that it's all life as usual."

"Good, good." Miqol appeared to remember something. "Got something I'd like to ask of you."

Shulk nodded. "Of course."

Miqol learned forward slightly. "Let's imagine that we start making a bunch of anti-Mechon weapons down here and ship them off the the allied force. How many d'you think we need to hand out for it to be worth the hassle?"

"Well...Assuming we're just talking about the front-line fighters, anyone that doesn't have one would be a burden to the rest. We can't rely on toppling the Mechon to cause damage in a huge battle. We'd need to supply almost everyone."

"Yes, of course. But what if these weapons were Monados? What then?"

Shulk tilted his head and tried to make sense of the question. "But almost no one can use the Monado."

"Don't worry about stuff like that. Let's just imagine it all works fine."

"Then...that would be huge. One Monado can Enchant a group of five, six, maybe up to eight or so."

Miqol made a fist pump. "Exactly. If we can figure out how to build some replica Monados, each one is worth half a dozen normal anti-Mechon weapons. More if you count that it powers up what people already own and like. Now I know that some of that sword's power belongs to you instead of the blade itself, so maybe it won't work. But would you agree it's worth a try?"

"Definitely." Shulk looked back towards the Monado's hilt. "Even if you can't get the Enchanting to work, just an energy blade with the same ether properties might end up being easier and faster to build."

"Our thoughts exactly." Miqol crossed his arms. "Of course, to get started we'll need to have a close look at the Monado. Give it a go-over, figure out how it works as much as we can. You should head to the lab, I've got my top engineer there."

"All right."

Shulk left the bridge room and headed down into the lower decks of Junks. He'd been to the tech lab once before, where he'd seen a few tricks for making anti-Mechon weapons.

The lab didn't look all that much different from any other room in Junks. Standing next to a row of displays was a yellow-accented Machina with a decoration on his head that almost looked like the top of a wrench.

"Ah, you must be Shulk," he said, his voice quite a bit deeper than his average-built body suggested. "I'm Qonaker. How do you do?"

"I'm fine," Shulk replied. "Miqol wants us to try and figure out how the Monado works."

"I heard. I like a good challenge. Let's see it." Qonaker indicated a workbench, mostly covered with a variety of unusual-looking tools.

Shulk carefully took the Monado and placed it in the clear spot. "Don't try to handle it yourself. It doesn't like it when people other than me try to use it, so I imagine it might get nasty if a Machina even touched it."

"That's fine, I'm just doing some scans."

Qonaker proceeded to scan the Monado with no less than a dozen different instruments, each one providing a large set of readings that he compiled into a big chunk of data on the largest display.

"This doesn't look all that advanced to be honest," he muttered, paging through the data as if he felt some of it was missing. "How many arts does it have?"

"Seven," answered Shulk. "Three direct attacks, two for defending, and two others. I'm not sure if there's anything else it might still have hidden; we thought it only had two in total before I started using it."

"Hmmmmm." Frowning, Qonaker continued to search through his scan results. "It looks like we could make a replica pretty easy in terms of the construction process. But these are some pretty odd innards we have here. The required materials won't come cheap. And I don't think we can say anything right now as to whether we'd get anything more than a fancy energy blade. We'd have to build something and try it out ourselves. Say, can we get a scan of it with an art in progress, or are none of then continuous enough?"

Shulk thought for a moment. "Most of the arts have a continuous effect, but only on the other things it targets. The Monado itself just casts the art and goes back to normal pretty quickly. So in that sense, you might be able to scan one of the weapons it Enchants."

"Worth a try. I don't have anything on me at the moment though, and I doubt anyone else here in Junks would. Any of your friends around?"

"Uh, maybe...maybe Riki is close. Give me a few minutes. I'll take the Monado with me just to be safe."

"That's fine, I can wait. Still got a lot of data to look at."

Shulk took the Monado and exited Junks, heading for the part of the Hidden Village with the shops. As he suspected, Riki was wandering around, looking for interestingly-shaped objects he could buy to possibly trade back on Bionis.

"Hello Shulk. Shulk needs Riki's help?"

"You've got me figured out," Shulk said. "Qonaker the engineer wants to see the Monado in action so he can hopefully make some copies of it."

Riki wobbled back and forth a bit. "More Monados? Riki intrigued. OK, Riki will come along."

It didn't take long to return to the lab. Qonaker eyed Riki with a mix of curiosity and leeriness; most Machina viewed Nopon as wildcards that could do anything at any moment.

"Nopon, eh?" he noted. "Interesting. Alright, let's see how this works."

"Okay Riki," Shulk said, "go stand over there and pretend you're ready to fight something. But try not to bounce around too much, what we want to do is scan your weapon."

"Riki will do Heropon's best!" Riki hopped to the designated location and grabbed his biter, holding it up into the air as still as he could get it as if he were waiting to smash a bug on the floor.

With Qonaker's instruments readied across the table, Shulk took the Monado and cast Enchant over the room, giving Riki's weapon a mottled purple glow.

"Hrrm, fascinating." Qonaker glanced between the sensors. "Definitely got what I wanted here. Give me a moment to put it together."

Shulk nodded as the Machina compiled the newest set of data. Riki eventually realized he wasn't being paid attention to anymore and dropped his pose to also turn and watch.

Qonaker began by circling the centre of the screen displaying Riki's biter. "Here's the nexus of ether that powers the enchantment. It just runs until it's empty, simple enough. It's got the same waveform as the Monado's energy blade itself, so it has the exact same properties."

Shulk held his chin. "That means making one of these enchanting nexi isn't any harder than a full Monado?"

"Well, without a real emitter, the trick would be to make it self-sustaining without burning out all at once. Could be easy, could be hard, no way to know until we try." Qonaker changed screens to the Monado itself during the enchanting. "But the casting itself is the nasty part. See how the ether is flowing through all these micro-conduits inside the shell? Those weren't even there when I did the inert scan, and from the looks of it they're gone again right now. The exact path of the flowing ether is what generates the correct resonance for the art to form. The trouble is the micro-conduits fill the whole space. There's no room for more than one set to exist at a time."

"So..." Shulk paused to put it together. "So you can only build a Monado that knows one art?"

"That's option one, yes. It would have all the micro-conduits baked in so anyone could use the one art. But that's assuming any old ether-focusing material will do fine, because the stuff in your Monado can't be fixed in place. We'd have to try something and hope it works." He paused for a moment. "We do have option two, which is to just make it of the same material as your Monado. That would let it do the shapeshifting it needs to access all the arts. But we can't encode the right paths in that material without just baking them in anyway; the knowledge is in your mind, not the sword itself. You would probably be able to use it just fine, but anyone else would get nothing. Unless you could personally teach them somehow, and that's not exactly scalable."

"I see." Shulk's forehead wrinkled up something fierce; he was trying to figure out how to apply this new knowledge without being distracted by how a bunch of previous Monado-based mysteries either now made sense or now made even less sense. "Why not try both and see which works better?"

Qonaker tilted his head and half-shrugged. "Well, that's certainly what I'm going to suggest we do. But like I said, it won't come cheap, and odds are we won't get it right on the first try either. So let's assume we have to pick one option, at least to start with: which one d'you think it should be?"

Shulk stood and thought for about a minute and a half before coming to a decision. "The first option, the single-art version. You said it's less likely to succeed, but it'll be far more useful to everyone if it does. But if it doesn't work, maybe try the second option right away instead of working too hard on the first."

"I'll take your opinion as the expert." Qonaker nodded. "I'll head up to Miqol and get his approval. You coming, or you got other things to do?"

"I...think you'll be fine." Shulk have something else on his mind, and wanted to fix it before he forgot. "Can't wait for the results."

"Alright then. See you later."

Shulk left the lab and began to head outside somewhat absent-mindedly.

Riki, closely following along, could tell something wasn't quite right. "Why Shulk not go to Miqol with new engineer friend? Shulk not excited to make more Monados?"

"Oh, well..." Shulk wasn't quite comfortable with telling Riki his thoughts at the moment. "I need to talk to Dunban. About the Monado. We just learned a bunch about it and...uh, I need to know what he thinks about a few things."

"Riki understand. Shulk need private talk time with Dundun." The ball of fur spun around. "Riki will go back to what he was doing. Shulk will feel better later."

"Thanks, Riki."

Shulk didn't watch Riki totter away back to the shops. Instead, he looked out across the lake, towards the island where he could see Dunban sitting.

* * *

Kallian placed his notebook on the table and leaned on the nearest chair. "What is on your mind, Melia?"

"...Many things."

Melia had not had a private one-on-one conversation with Kallian since she had left Alcamoth towards Valak Mountain, partly because he was quite busy heading the allied force and was usually unavailable during the few times she had returned thus far. But today he was open, and so she brought him to an empty meeting room to try and get rid of some of the nagging thoughts that had been building up.

She took a moment to choose which one she wanted to start with. "I must first ask about Dickson. What do you think of him?"

"What do I think of Dickson?" Kallian didn't appear to get why this was a question, but went with it. "He is a clever man with a unique collection of life experience for a Homs. I believe he is at the forefront of Homs anti-Mechon technology. We are lucky for him to hold such interest in fighting alongside us."

Melia was looking for a different kind of answer. "Yes, but what of Dickson as a person?"

Kallian looked at her a bit more intensely. "Do you not trust Dickson?"

She didn't expect him to find the true reason so suddenly, but it was probably for the better. "No, I do not."

"I do not blame you in the least." Kallian nodded with a pensive look. "As much of an asset he is to the effort, I sense he is hiding something of great importance from us. Perhaps it is with good reason, or perhaps he simply does not trust us as much as we would like. But in any case, I see no reason for such a trivial matter to obstruct our alliance. Why, what do you sense?"

"I sense..." Melia paused for a moment to figure out how to put it into words. "I sense a fearful and otherworldly aura radiating from him. It is a sensation I have not seen of anything else in the world."

Kallian's brow furrowed. "What do you mean? Are you referring to his natural ether signature?"

"Yes. It is distinctly _un_ natural, a pattern that deviates so far from that of a Homs that I have no idea what to make of it."

"Hmmmm." Kallian turned to pace around a bit, deep in thought. "I have no reason to doubt the assessment of a generational ether talent, but at the same time it is quite a bit too unusual to simply believe without any other source."

Melia remembered something. "Riki also feels this way. We both agreed that something felt off when we first met him." _But drat, Riki is on the Fallen Arm at the moment and cannot corroborate._

"I see." Kallian thought for a few moments. "Is it possible Dickson is simply different in some way that does not affect his trustworthiness?"

"I...suppose that is possible." Melia couldn't add anything; while Dickson's aura gave her a distinctly negative feeling, never before had she seen any ether signature so dissonant with its owner, and so it could indeed be simply because it wasn't what she expected.

"Then perhaps we are worrying ourselves over nothing." He stopped pacing. "It is not at all my intention to simply ignore your opinion. But we must prioritize our issues. As it currently stands, Dickson has been a great help to the alliance's efforts. If the worst were to happen and he were to turn against us, what could he really do? The Homs hold no allegiance to him in particular, and he holds no knowledge that we cannot counter should the enemy learn it. One man will not cripple our position. So while perhaps we should be aware of the possibility, we have greater things to worry about."

"I understand." It was a little disappointing, but it was the right move. She did of course have the authority to override Kallian's opinion, but there was no need to complicate matters.

"Now, surely that's not the only thing you wished to discuss?"

Melia nodded. "Correct. I had an idea for timing our approach on Agniratha with the force's attack through Sword Valley."

Kallian appeared interested. "Do tell."

"It will likely take a few days for us to travel through Agniratha, determine where Egil is, and plan for our assault. We will keep you informed of our schedule as best we can. On the day we expect to confront him, our first action will be to return my ship to Alcamoth on a predetermined and distinctively-shaped route. This will signify that we have begun, and that you should initiate your own attack."

"Very good." Kallian wrote something down in his notebook. "I can think of no better signal. Once you have decided upon the shape of the route, we will set up a watch for it. What is your current estimation?"

Melia thought for a moment. "Agniratha is a city of similar scale to Alcamoth. I would suspect that Egil is located in the most central or most capital region, but he is likely to have erected some sort of defenses against our arrival, which may take some time to capitulate. My best guess at the moment is no sooner than four days, with a week being more likely. Though I would not at all be surprised for it to take two weeks."

"That may be just as well. We could use as much preparation time as possible." He took further notes. "Anything else?"

"Yes, one more thing. How goes the public perception of my surrogate?" It was something she'd been meaning to look into for a while but had kept forgetting - she wasn't used to the idea of having someone pretend to be her while she was away.

Kallian couldn't help frowing a bit. "The general public seems content, but the underbelly is beginning to suspect something is amiss. The more time passes, the more her imperfections become apparent. It is a constant distraction to all who are in the know."

Melia nodded. "Could anything be done to assuage the discontent?"

"I'm not sure. We can't have the true you make an appearance, or it will make the surrogate's flaws more jarring." Kallian had a thought. "Tell me, have you met the surrogate?"

"...I have not. Perhaps I should."

"Indeed. She has had nothing but archived footage and her own presumptions to impersonate you by; a direct meeting could do wonders for her act." More note-taking. "Her name is Kira Lellens. She is boarded in inner guest room 3. She passed the high-security civilian screening process as we hired her; whether you trust her to see your face is your choice."

"I shall consider it." Melia cast her mind around in case she was forgetting anything. "I believe that's all I wished to speak with you about today, Brother."

"Excellent." Kallian closed his notebook and smiled. "I have a single question for you: How is your...unique condition?"

Melia looked down at Meyneth's chestplate sitting on her. Most people didn't pay too much attention to it; despite being quite large for a piece of jewelry, she had yet to meet anyone who considered it otherwise. Kallian had guessed it was something more the first time he saw it, and she had told him there was a helpful voice within, but she hadn't yet revealed it was the goddess of the Mechonis - that knowledge was probably best left hidden for now.

"My bond with the presence within has served us well in navigating the Mechonis and combatting challenging foes."

"I see." Kallian was clearly at least slightly worried, but he had no reason to believe there was a problem. "Well, I must be on my way then. Don't hesitate to ask my opinion at any time."

"Of course."

The two left the room and turned opposite directions. Melia decided to head straight for the guest rooms; there was no reason to delay meeting the surrogate.

She could sense an odd feeling of uncertainty. It didn't seem to be coming from herself, but rather Meyneth. The feeling was too weak to notice when occupied by something else, but it wasn't the first time she'd had an unexpected emotion pour over the edge between the two minds, and each time it seemed to be getting slightly stronger and longer-lasting. She strongly hoped that it would never become powerful enough to interrupt her when trying to do something, wishing that her feeling would cross back over and inform her tenant to keep quiet.

* * *

Dunban waited for Shulk to approach and sit down beside him before speaking. "I sense you didn't come over here just for idle chit-chat."

Sometimes, Shulk would jokingly complain whenever Dunban made this observation. Today wasn't one of those times; instead, he just nodded.

"Well, let's hear it." Dunban shifted his position to face Shulk a bit more.

"It's...about the Monado," Shulk began. "We just learned a lot about how it works. It looks like it's just a tool to focus the arts the user knows. But...but that still doesn't explain everything. How-"

Dunban held up his hand. "I don't wish to interrupt you, but I don't think I'm in any position to help you understand the Monado anymore. You've used it to more effect than I ever had."

Shulk didn't expect that kind of answer. "But you're still the only one who could control it other than me. Miqol is thinking of trying to duplicate it to help the allied force. I need to know what made you different from everyone else."

"You're forgetting something important," Dunban said. "Zanza said you were the heir to the Monado. And from what we've learned since, I gather that he gets to pick who that is. He probably only let me use it until you were ready."

"I...guess that makes sense. But how did we both know the same Monado Arts when we picked it up? And how did you never find any more of them?"

Dunban shrugged. "I don't have those answers, Shulk. The Monado is bigger than either of us. We may never fully understand it."

Shulk was becoming a bit frustrated; he knew it was optimistic to expect Dunban to have any answers, but at the same time it bothered him to have collected so much information yet still be so far from a complete understanding. His head drooped and shuddered a bit.

Dunban suspected that something more was up. "You're not looking for answers just for Miqol's idea, are you? You want to understand the Monado as much as you can for the sake of fighting Egil. That's it, isn't it?"

"I...well, kind of. Maybe. It's more..."

Shulk stared at some blank spot across the lake for a few moments. To his surprise, he began a pretty fluent train of thought.

"I couldn't save Fiora. I'd only been using the Monado for a few minutes. I wasn't ready. If I knew then what I did even a few days later, I could've saved her."

"Then I couldn't save the Emperor. I saw it coming but it still took us by surprise. And just seconds after that I got the power I would have needed to save him."

"And then I couldn't save Face Nemesis. I never had a vision that Egil could shut down the Monado. If I had, we could have been prepared, I could have been ready to fight it. Or even if I just practiced harder or something. Everything would have been a lot easier if we saved her."

"But..." He looked back down at his newly-clenched fists, now talking to himself more than anyone. "I _will_ save Melia. I might not be ready now but I will be. I've got to train harder than ever and learn as much as possible. I'm not going to let anyone take her away like the others."

Dunban looked worried. "What's this, now? You got another vision about Melia?"

Shulk realized that he had been rambling out loud and immediately turned sheepish. "Um, well...no. It's actually about..." He considered for a moment and decided it might be the best time. "She told me she'd kill herself if Meyneth tries to take over her body. Part of me thinks it would have happened already, but on the other hand who knows what might happen once we get to Egil." His mood turned from sheepish to hasty, tripping over a few words as his continued. "And that's assuming she doesn't get fooled by something and think it's happening when it actually isn't. But...why would she do that to herself? I don't totally trust Meyneth yet, but she can't be all bad if she's been giving us help all this time. Why deprive her of a body at possibly the most important time for her to need one? While also giving Egil an easier time by removing one of his strongest opponents?"

"I see." Dunban scratched his chin. "I can understand her mindset."

"You...you can? How?"

Dunban looked up towards the Bionis. "Before the Battle of Colony 9, I was the special one. The only one who could wield the Monado, the only one who had a fighting chance againt the Mechon by themselves. But I continued to put myself in more danger than necessary despite my importance - or perhaps I should say, _because_ of it. I wanted to be the hero or die trying. I suspect Melia has a similar desire - she would rather die than live by someone else's terms. I agree it is a foolish, egotistic mindset. But it is what it is."

Shulk considered the insight, turning from frustrated to thoughtful. "That actually makes a lot of sense. Last time we were in Alcamoth, I was reading a book for teaching Homs about High Entia culture. It said that they're really big on honour. In ancient times, knights and assassins alike would routinely kill themselves rather than be taken prisoner. Melia must feel the same way about Meyneth being possibly able to take over her body. She must feel super-conflicted about saving her own honour versus not knowing if she can gain it back by giving it up to save the world."

Dunban's eyebrows went up a bit. "Fascinating. What brought you to read this book, by the way? I've never known you to take an interest in history or culture."

"Uh...well..." Shulk had trouble finding an answer. "I guess...maybe...it's so different from Homs stuff that it's interesting?"

Dunban chuckled and shook his head, looking back to straight ahead. "They are an intriguing society. But I don't think that's why you're taking an interest. I think you're looking for anything you can find to try and save Melia from herself. Is that right?"

Shulk didn't know how to respond, but after a moment he discovered he felt relieved. "Yeah, yeah that's it. I'm sick of losing people to Egil and the Mechon. I'm not letting that list grow any longer."

"So what now then?" Dunban asked.

"I...I don't know." Shulk closed his eyes and laid back. "I feel a bit better about things, but I'm still worried."

"Don't worry about what's out of your control. Just do your best to make the world such a nice place that Melia won't _want_ to leave."

Shulk found the comment both weirdly out of place and strangely sensible. He didn't feel an answer was necessary; he just continued to lay there, thinking about everything he had learned today.

* * *

Melia gave the guest room door a polite knock, mentally rehearsing her introduction. Part of her was worried that a professional actress would see through it easily, but on the other hand, making a living by partaking in fantasy worlds might actually make it harder to see the truth in a stranger.

After about half a minute, the door faded open to reveal Kira, the woman hired to be her surrogate while away from Alcamoth. She looked about three years younger, stood about ten centimetres taller, was a decent amount more thickset, had a significantly flatter chest and hips, and had hair cut to shoulder length. The bags under her eyes and droopy half-wings all but screamed she wasn't getting enough sleep.

"Hello." She blinked a few times, a bit unfocused. "Who are you?"

Melia took a deep but quick breath. "Hello, Ms. Lellens. I am with the imperial council. I wish to gather feedback of your experience working for us thus far."

"Really?" Kira didn't seem too impressed, but did back away to let Melia in. "Well, sure, I guess."

The guest room was decorated in a faint, neutral blue, with enough furniture and decoration to fit in a five-star hotel. Replicas of Melia's headdress, Empress Mask, and Protect Staff sat on the desk.

Melia waited for Kira to pick a seat before choosing her own. "I wish for you to speak your mind. Release whatever you desire to say."

Kira was initially slouched in her seat, but sat up a bit straighter. "Do you actually mean that?"

"Yes. Do not hold anything back. There will be no negative consequences - this is for making the experience more bearable for you."

"Well...okay." Kira thought for a few seconds before beginning.

"You probably at least guess this, since you're one of us, but it's so hard for a small-winged half-blood to get any gigs as an actress that aren't just token diversity characters. So of course I went nuts when you guys showed up and asked if I could pretend to be Empress Melia for a few weeks, starting immediately. I probably should have read the contract more carefully, but I need to do _something_ and there'd never be a better opportunity. So I came up here and started trying to get into character, watching all the footage I could while being shown around the palace to get tailored and stuff. And then I got put into this room, which really what more could you ask for, the free room service feels like the best part."

"But then I actually started the next day, and man, I don't know how Empress Melia does it. I don't know how accurate the mask and headdress are, but sometimes it feels like I've got a big fat towel wrapped around my head that gives me sinus problems. And all the standing and sitting around in the throne is...well I can't lie, who hasn't dreamed of doing that, but it just gets so boring and stiff. The clothes were tailored to make me look the part more, but that means they're tight in some places and loose in others, which is really distracting whenever I have to move. And I can't even take weekends off, because I have to wander around the palace a bit just for visibility, and no going outside because it'll be too easy to get the secret out."

"I guess you could say the worst part is that I feel like if something big goes down, people will actually expect me to make a decision. So far I've been able to just be neutral or let Prince Kallian do any decision-making because he's the regent right now. Which I really super-appreciate by the way, maybe you should tell him that, because I don't really have a chance. But if he's ever not there I'll be in big trouble, I don't want to have anything serious be decided by some random actress who doesn't know anything. I mean, I don't really know what I expected, but I guess I didn't think the stress level would be this high for what feels like the whole time."

"Okay I'm not sure if I just changed my mind, but maybe the actual worst part is that I'm stuck here in the palace until it's over. I mean it's not like there's anything I need that I don't have, but after a couple weeks of doing this I miss just being outside. Actually, I missed my boyfriend's birthday a few days ago. I was able to tell him before I left that I might not make it but it's still depressing. He doesn't even know exactly what I'm doing because it's an imperial secret and all...man, if I could just see him again for an hour or so I'd feel a whole lot better. I almost feel like I'm in a different city because of how different everything is from what I'm used to."

"Uh, that turned into a bit of a rant I guess. But I think you get the idea. The job's way harder than I expected, and I'm unsure if the lifestyle makes up for it. But I still don't think I would have turned it down for something else. That's...that's it I guess."

Melia considered the infodump for a moment. On the whole, none of it came as a surprise; she expected a citizen to underestimate what it meant to be empress and be uncomfortable with taking hold of such authority, especially in a time when open warfare was a distinct possibility. But the part about being separated from a boyfriend carried quite a bit of guilt, as if it were her fault that this person had been separated from her own life just to mimic hers. She felt obligated to make it up to her somehow.

"I acknowledge and respect all of your experiences and opinions, and I shall act immediately to resolve your complaints. Firstly, I order you to take tomorrow off and go see your boyfriend, and the rest of your family if you so wish. I will create a suitable cover story and arrange for discreet transportation in and out of the palace. All you have to do is respect the secret."

Kira's face lit up. "Y-you can do that for me? Really?!"

Melia nodded. "Of course. I will also see what can be done about allowing you similar breaks every ten days or so. Furthermore, while I am sure you have been presented with the most important rules of the audience chamber, I refer you to this one that appears to have been missed or glossed over: in the event of open warfare, imperial business may be suspended. Should Kallian choose to lead the allied force into battle himself, as I suspect he is eager to, you need not proceed without him. You don't have to know the article number to invoke it; as long as you're sufficiently clear about it, the aides will confirm the provision exists for you."

"Th-that's..." Kira's eyes glittered. "Why was I not told this before?! This is amazing! Oh that'll take a huge weight off me, thank you so much...um, what's your name?"

"I am Melia."

Kira nodded for a moment before doing a double-take. "Wait, Melia? As in, the empress Melia?"

"The very same."

There was silence for a good twenty seconds. It wasn't an intentional silence; several syllables could be seen forming on the stunned commoner's face before being cancelled. Eventually she got it together.

"W-wwwow. I didn't...I thought you'd be...well..." Another pause, as if she'd done something wrong. "I've been playing you as kind of a no-nonsense harda- uh, I mean, no-nonsense disciplinarian. Should I soften it up a bit?"

Melia shook her head. "Oh, no. It is absolutely correct to portray me as strict and firm when in the Audience Chamber. Do not let my friendly actions towards you colour your initial impression. It is a difficult job that must be taken with minimal emotion and bias."

"Right okay." Kira was leaning side to side in her chair as if trying to get some different viewing angles. "Do...do you mind if I just...observe you for a bit?"

"Go ahead."

The next five minutes were highly awkward. Melia stood up, sat down, walked around the room, and did a few other requested actions repeatedly while Kira watched and mimicked. Melia couldn't tell if the acting was gaining accuracy, but it certainly appeared to become more fluid and confident.

The last thing Kira requested to see was a handshake. Once she had finished learning Melia's, she took one more as herself. "I can't thank you enough for coming to see me, Your Majesty. I was feeling really down and tired about this job, but you've just made it so much easier. I feel motivated again."

"You are welcome. It is my duty to serve the people as they do us."

"...sure. Hm, that's a good line, might use it sometime." An awkward pause. "So, uh, bye then I guess? I probably won't see you again?"

Melia thought for a moment. Once she returned from defeating Egil, she wouldn't have much use for a surrogate. Even if she wanted to slip out of the palace for a day or two, emperors taking trips across the Bionis on the imperial yacht weren't exactly rare, and no secret replacement would be necessary.

That being said...

"I suppose so. But in the event I hear of any filmmakers who need an empress, I will have a strong recommendation."

A huge grin appeared on Kira's face. No further words came out.

Satisfied that she had done good, Melia showed herself out. Wasting no time, she sought out the relevant people to inform them of what was to be done for Kira over the next few days. As expected, there was a lot of previously-unrealized sentiment that the surrogate was being worked too hard, alongside a renewed spirit to help her out rather than just leave her be.

It was just about time to gather the party up for dinner, so Melia turned for the nearest balcony. It was a lot faster and easier to summon her ship to her position than to walk to and through a giant hangar. And if she could do anything to see Shulk again faster, she would.

 _...That's an odd thought to have. Why would I be so desperate to see Shulk again? We've only been apart for a few hours. It's not even as if it's the first time in a while we've been apart at all._

 _Perhaps Kira's mentioning of being unable to see her boyfriend has stirred a similar emotion within me. I don't know what else could cause it._

 _...good grief, I just compared Shulk to someone's boyfriend as if he were mine. What's gotten into me? That is a term reserved only for mutual attraction, of which there is nothing of the sort in this case. This is merely a...an extended crush caused by a lifetime of having no romantic affection for anyone._

 _That's interesting. This is the first time I've thought of my relationship with him as a crush, or to even formally acknowledge it as something more than friendship. I suppose denying it was simply delaying the inevitable._

 _On the other hand, maybe I should have kept denying it, in the hope it would hurt less when I am forced to become secluded in the palace again._

Melia realized that she had been standing at the balcony with her ship waiting in front of her for a minute or two. She shook her head and jumped aboard to collect the others.

* * *

"She's late." Shulk was clearly on edge, fidgeting around more than usual and pacing around aimlessly as he stared up into the sky towards the Bionis' head.

As Shulk's pacing brought him further away, Riki stopped spinning around and leaned towards Dunban, speaking in a low voice. "Dundun, why Shulk so anxious? Riki was three minutes late yesterday and that not a problem. But Melly only one minute late and Shulk is worrywarting?"

"Shulk's been having a lot of deep thoughts today," Dunban replied in a quiet mutter. "He's worried about Melia and whether Meyneth can be trusted."

"Ooooh. Riki maybe not completely understand, because Riki think Meymey is too big help to hurt Melly."

"I agree, but Shulk's not so sure. He fears that Melia will do something terrible to herself because she misinterprets one of Meyneth's actions."

Riki didn't have a response. He instead sat down and slowly rolled around.

After a moment, a speck became visible in the distance. It quickly resolved into the Illustrious Alighting, landing in the plaza with Melia, Sharla, and Reyn aboard.

Sharla was the first to speak. "Sorry we're late, it was my fault. I dropped my wallet and it spilled everywhere."

Shulk ignored her and the rest of the party's lighthearted banter. He was too busy decompressing from the massive weight lifted off his mind with Melia's return. It freaked him out a little how deeply he missed having her within eyesight, knowing that she could trigger her own demise at any moment.

Melia caught that Shulk was kind of staring at her for no clear reason. It was a bit creepy. At least it gave her a solid reason to look somewhere else for once.

Reyn hadn't bothered to disembark. "So, we heading back to Colony 9 for supper then?"

Shulk realized he might be acting weirdly and decided to answer. "Yeah. I can tell you what we've learned about the Monado today. It's kind of cool."

"Only _kind of_ cool?" Reyn pretended to not care by crossing his arms and turning his head. "Bah whatever, tell me when it's _actually_ cool."

Everyone laughed as they climbed onboard the vessel and flew off.


	7. Abandoned

"So this is the Mechonis capital."

Shulk looked across the unusual landscape. To call it a "landscape" was somewhat incorrect; it was more like a collection of platforms suspended from the Mechonis' head, almost like a grapevine. He wondered what kind of engineering would be necessary to build even one of the spindles from scratch, before realizing it was probably at least partly a natural formation.

"Yes, Agniratha," Vanea responded. "The heart of the Machina civilisation."

"It looks so desolate." Melia got a very strong sense of foreboding and sadness, both from herself and Meyneth's chestplate, interrupting the rest of her thought. The similarity to Alcamoth was eerie - she had known it was of similar size, but to see it laid out into individual, circular divisions made it feel even creepier. The destroyed Colony 6 may have felt depressing upon first visit, but seeing a city of such size go abandoned while mostly intact brought forth a new level of shuddering.

"It truly is a soulless city," Dunban agreed.

"Here bad place. Riki want to go."

Reyn seemed more impressed than put off. "So the Machina built this whole city? Not too shabby."

"It looks like the buildings have been here for a very long time," added Shulk.

There was a pause while everyone took in the view. There was a disturbing lack of guardrails along the suspended pathways, likely due to age wearing down such thin structures to nothing, meaning that falling would be a constant danger as they tried to fight through whatever defenses Egil had installed. Wind currents alternated between fresh air and a thick smell of rust.

Riki suddenly pointed at something nearby. "Look, friends! Dinobeast! Dinobeast eat city!"

"What? Here?" Reyn was first to respond, turning to see a fossilised Telethia. "Oh. What?"

"It...it's a stone Telethia?" Shulk was the first to approach, with the others following closely. He poked it with his foot; it certainly felt like stone.

Sharla looked back up across the city, now recognizing what was first dismissed as random rocks. "They're everywhere. All over the place, dead Telethia just like this one. But how? Did they attack the city?"

Melia wasn't sure whether answering would be a good idea. She remembered the memory of Meyneth's that had surfaced after the fight with Jade Face, with what appeared to be Telethia streaming out of the Bionis towards the Mechonis. It was now clear that they had attacked the city at the same time the titans had fought.

Vanea answered instead. "The truth is not what anyone wants to hear, but you must in order to truly understand what happened between the two titans. We must go to the Data Centre within the Central Tower. From there, you will see the memories the Machina left behind."

"Okay then." Shulk led the party towards the indicated structure. "It's really weird, though, to see dead Telethia just sitting around. I thought they just exploded into ether. Melia, have you heard of this?"

Melia was busy being introspective, but was paying enough attention to catch the question. "The two Telethia we fought were destroyed by absorbing too much ether energy. It is normal for Telethia to leave a corpse as much as any other physical being. I assume those here have turned to stone by the same process that left the Bionis itself replete with bedrock. Though I am surprised the remains are this well-preserved, almost untouched by wind erosion."

It was difficult to maintain further conversation, with the city's eerie emptiness looming around them. The party silently moved towards the Central Tower.

Reaching the ground floor, two rows of curiously-shaped objects caught their eye, shaped like glowing gears perched on giant metal pushpins.

"These are the civic information terminals," Vanea said. "Long ago, they provided basic information about the state of the city to anyone who asked. Now I suppose Egil has repurposed them for his own needs. Perhaps they still hold useful information, but now is not the time. The Data Centre is on the top floor."

The group moved on. It took no time at all to arrive at the Data Centre, which was currently lit up with several holograms across the room.

"It looks like there's power in here," Shulk said. "Weird. Was Egil in here?"

"Almost certainly," Vanea replied. "A great deal of useful information is stored here."

Melia looked around the room. It wasn't outright familiar, but there was still an inkling of recognition. The console just ahead attracted her attention the most; she had a hard time looking at anything else once she first laid eyes on it.

"I think..." she mumbled by accident, before speaking up. "I think Meyneth wants to show us something. Something from this console."

Vanea extended an arm towards the console, silently inviting Melia to do whatever needed to be done.

Melia carefully walked to the console. The two side discs looked like they were supposed to be palm inputs, so she placed her hands on them. Nothing happened. She could feel her fingers twitching a bit as if restless, anxious to type something in, but the device remained inactive.

After a few moments of no results, Shulk had a realization. "No one from Bionis has ever tried to use this before, right?"

"Of course." Vanea clasped her hands and held them on her chin, thinking. "The Data Centre was not designed for organic usage. Its haptic interface wouldn't be able to detect your hand any more than a mushroom or pile of dirt - it's optimized for our metallic construction."

To Melia, the solution was obvious. "Then I shall need your hands."

Vanea looked puzzled, but after a bit understood. "Very well." She stepped behind Melia and placed her hands on the side discs.

It was a little scary for Melia to be surrounded by Vanea's metallic body; she couldn't forget the misguided attack when they first met. It took a bit of courage to place her hands on top of the grey ones, which felt simultaneously lifelike and lifeless. She closed her eyes and tried to relax, which after a bit allowed her Meyneth-provided instincts to rise up and type out a series of instructions.

The plan worked flawlessly. A series of orange-tinted holographics flared to life, displaying a large image of Agniratha in front of the console. The others surrounded it with interest.

"I believe it will now play a sequence of records." Melia lowered her hands, prompting Vanea to do the same and back away. "Records from...from very long ago. While this city was still alive."

The image of Agniratha was replaced by the Bionis and Mechonis, standing together in peace, focusing on them in turn. It then showed a large statue that presumably resided in the city somewhere, depicting a female Machina that Melia and Vanea recognized as Meyneth but no one else did.

Melia could feel the memories playing in her own head at the same time as they rendered for the others. "Meyneth was born alongside the Mechonis, acting as its spirit and soul. She created the Machina and lived alongside them."

The display passed over several scenes of daily life in the flourishing Agniratha. One later scene showed the very recognizable Miqol, alongside Vanea and another male Machina.

Shulk pointed at the new face. "That must be him. That's Egil."

Vanea gave a slight and silent nod.

The next image to appear depicted two Machina in Makna Forest, meeting with a High Entia and a Giant, who shook their hands.

"The people from both titans shared their stories and lived in peace." Melia's voice started becoming less confident and defined, as if she didn't believe what she was saying, or she could feel that something disturbing was coming. "They believed they could grow their worlds together."

The Bionis broke its peaceful stance and attacked the Mechonis, slicing its giant Monado through it. Terror reigned in Agniratha as the Machina attempted to escape the attack, but swarms of Telethia began to pour in and hunt down the survivors.

"But why?!" Shulk had backed away from the hologram as the others made various gasps. "Why would the Bionis attack the Machina?"

The Mechonis awoke and began to fight back, recreating the legendary duel. The titans fought until they landed the final blows on each other.

Melia was starting to have trouble understanding the memories Meyneth was recalling; they were becoming jumbled and non-linear with respect to the scene being played out for the others. "Meyneth...tried to save the Machina by confronting the Bionis. By confronting...Zanza?"

"Zanza?!"

The Giant appeared just as Shulk repeated the name, being sealed into Prison Island by a group of High Entia.

The two titans dimmed to inactivity. Corpses from both worlds littered Agniratha. Meyneth was shown entering a portal nearby her shrine. Finally, the hologram vanished.

"The High Entia took the chance to seal Zanza away, but it was too late. Meyneth warned the surviving Machina that Zanza was not finished, and would eventually be released. Exhausted from the battle, she entered a long and deep slumber to prepared for his reawakening."

" _Zanza_ is the one that started the war?" Shulk looked pretty distressed, moreso than any time in recent memory. " _I_ released him! He chose _me_ as the only one to wield the Monado! Does that mean...that _I'm_ the bad guy now?"

"Come off it, Shulk." Reyn gave him a gentle shove. "He ain't the one who's been using the Monado, it's you. And you haven't been attacking anything that hasn't come after us first."

Dunban nodded. "Zanza wanted to destroy the Mechonis and its people. Perhaps we did too, back when we did not know the truth. But now our only quarrel is with Egil."

"Egil." Shulk shook his head, still visibly upset. "So he and Meyneth have the same goal: to stop Zanza and the Bionis from destroying them. But he's going about it completely wrong. How does attacking the Homs and killing us help him?"

"I do not know," Vanea replied. "I have tried to reason with him many times, but he remains blinded by revenge and unable to see logic."

"Blinded by revenge..." Shulk shook his head and turned away, knowing exactly how it felt.

Melia figured now was a decent time to ask Vanea a question that had been nagging her. "So Meyneth decided now was the time to awaken, and requested a body to operate from. Why did you select...the person that you did?"

Vanea didn't appear to want to reply, but she did. "Because Fiora was close to Shulk. The heir to the Monado. She believed it would help keep him moving towards the light, and avert him from the path of Zanza."

Shulk looked back, confused. "What do you mean, the path of Zanza?"

Melia surprised herself by recalling the answer. "You said it yourself, Shulk. That you can sometimes hear his voice, telling you what to do."

"...yeah, I guess. But he hasn't led me wrong yet. Maybe a bit more violent on the Mechon than we need to be sometimes, but..."

"The Monado is a powerful force," Dunban said. "Sometimes I feel as if it goaded me on, pushing me beyond the limits of good judgement, and it most certainly pushed others to desire it for no good reason. You have used it wisely. But now that we know what may truly lie behind it, we must take extra caution."

A hush fell over the room for several moments. Nobody seemed very interested in discussing what they had just learned.

After a while, Vanea spoke up. "Is it still your intention to defeat Egil?"

Shulk was busy staring as his feet, but he looked up. "If he is willing to listen to us, we'll try to reason with him. But if not...then we'll do what we have to."

"I understand." Vanea turned to leave. "Perhaps I can try to persuade him one last time, but I do not expect success. I wish you all luck."

It took a few moments after Vanea left for the group to get their minds together.

"So where do we go now?" asked Reyn. "Maybe we shoulda followed her."

Sharla shook her head. "It wouldn't do her any good to show up for negotiating with his biggest enemies beside her."

"But we do need to know where to go," said Dunban.

"I already know." Melia looked through the windows and pointed at particular structures. "There are four Verification Devices within four pillars. Once they are all activated, we may use the transporter to the Meyneth Shrine."

Reyn followed the pointing. "Aren't we gonna need Vanea's hands like we just did to turn those things on?"

"Not any more than we did to activate the various other switches and controls on our climb up the Mechonis. Only this complex data interface requires such finesse."

"Sounds good. Let's see if those terminals downstairs know how we can get there." Still a bit jittery from today's relevations, Shulk took a deep breath. Things weren't going to get any easier.

* * *

Melia sat alone atop the Seven Sage Cloister, staring at the Meyneth Shrine in the distance.

Agniratha had been a difficult experience. Almost every corner brought some new memory of the past from Meyneth's mind to hers. The four Verification Devices had been guarded by the toughest of tough Mechon. The widespread presence of Telethia corpses acted as a constant reminder of what had happened eons ago.

But in the end, they had succeeded at activating the transporter to the Meyneth Shrine, while also completing all the tasks the not-entirely-cognizant-of-reality terminals had asked of them. While they would be taking several days to rest and regroup, it looked like the next major task of theirs could be the last: to reach and confront Egil.

The party had returned to the Data Centre to see if they could find anything of interest that Egil had left behind; they had discovered several pairs of Machina gloves in what had appeared to be a blacksmith's, which worked quite well at allowing them to access the foreign haptic terminals. Melia hung around for a few minutes before leaving; she didn't want to undergo a barrage of memories over every little thing that they looked at. No one attempted to stop her.

She unconsciously looked down into the floor, tracing the path that her ethersense told her was someone leaving the Data Centre. Two more seconds of focus told her it was Shulk.

 _Of course. He's so fearful of my condition that he can't leave me alone for a minute._ Melia pushed the intrusive thought away. True, she felt Shulk was getting a bit too obsessed with never leaving her side - it had been a while since he'd ever suggested the group split up into trios with them separated, and he was definitely standing a lot closer to her during downtime. But while it felt unnatural for him to do, she didn't mind having him around. It produced a nice illusion that he personally cared about her, when in actuality it was probably about protecting Meyneth, or maybe just the Fiora personality traits he thought he saw in her.

"I knew I'd find you up here." Shulk arrived as expected. "I guess you already kind of know everything we'd find in the Data Centre, right?"

"I suppose." Melia didn't turn to look at him.

There was a strange pause. Melia expected Shulk to ask a question, or perhaps even start to gaze at the Meyneth Shrine in the distance alongside her. But instead, there was motionless silence. For a moment she considered that he'd forgotten what he came here for.

"Here, catch."

Melia spun around to see what looked to be a purple ball being lobbed through the air towards her. She reached up to grab it, but it bounced off her knuckles and rolled up against the ridge at the edge of the walkway.

"What is this?" Leaning forward to pick up the object, it turned out to not be a ball, but some sort of Mechonis fruit. It looked like an apple with very shiny purple skin and a second stem attached to its underside, rendering it rather symmetrical.

"It's a Chain Apple." Only now did Shulk come to sit down next to her. "We found a line of them in the Data Centre. According to the records, they grow in long strings of eight or thirteen, mostly in the Mechonis' sword arm. They're supposed to be mildly sour. Couldn't let you not have one, before Riki scarfs the rest."

"Why would the Machina keep fruit in the Data Centre if they do not eat?" Melia turned the apple around a few times, leerily looking it over. It had a flat spot where it had hit the ground.

Shulk shrugged. "Curiosity? Science? Maybe Egil was thinking about using them to poison us or something, but we scanned them and they're clean."

Melia rubbed the flat spot on the fruit's rubbery skin, her finger oil smudging its shininess. She was quite un-hungry at the moment; just the idea of putting anything in her mouth made her throat tighten.

"I appreciate the gesture, Shulk, but I am not hungry right now. Perhaps later." She placed the apple on the floor beside herself.

Shulk's face fell noticeably. Without a word, he turned away to look at the view.

 _Ugh, why's he so downed by my truthful response. Now I feel even worse, thank you very much._

The two sat in silence for a moment, mildly disappointed in each other.

"How much of a later do you think there'll be?"

Melia didn't understand Shulk's comment. "Come again?"

Shulk's head turned a tiny bit, his face still too hidden to read. "You've got royal things to do, right? Once we're done with Egil?"

"Indeed. I shall be quite busy for the next several months." _Perhaps years._

"Yeah, I thought maybe." He was fidgeting with his hands now. "Man, your life sucks."

It was an unexpectedly harsh comment. Melia wasn't sure whether to be offended by its frankness or cautiously pleased that Shulk might have developed some sort of sympathy for her.

"I-I mean," he continued after a moment of consideration, "the rest of us are probably the heroes of the colonies. Maybe the biggest ones ever. We'll get to stay together as famous friends for long after this. But for you, it's just another thing on your schedule. You have to go back home, maybe have a feast or something, and that's it, back to work. No time for any of us."

Melia just nodded. Of course she'd already thought about it all before, but having it spelled out by someone else made it feel even more depressing.

Shulk suddenly appeared to have an idea. He turned more directly towards her, still looking a bit down but with a potential out. "Say, what exactly _do_ you have to do? Could we do anything to help?"

 _Hm. A noble attempt, but ultimately fruitless._ "I'm afraid most of my duties cannot be aided. The deciphering of the ancient scripts must be undertaken alone, as their contents must be kept with absolute secrecy. There are various tasks and rituals that require specific people on hand and also cannot be revealed to outsiders." She considered stopping there, but considered that laying it all out might be a healthy alternative to letting it fester. "I believe I am required to undergo some sort of medical procedure to ascertain my ability to produce heirs, which of course would be eventually followed by marrying, once we unearth exactly what sort of consorts I am supposed to be pursuing."

"You mean, like whether you need two of them or not?"

"Precisely. We don't know at the moment whether a half-blooded ruler is supposed to maintain the practice of a Homs consort. My initial presumption is that it would be optional, taking care to ensure the imperial line does not become any further diluted."

"Right." Shulk's expression was hard to read, though it was clearly thought-heavy. "So...so in theory, by the time we see you again, you'd probably be actively looking for someone?"

Melia hadn't bothered to figure out the exact timeline before, but it did make sense at face value. "I suppose."

"Well, hopefully it doesn't take too long then. We're all going to miss you."

"As will I."

Shulk figured the conversation was over and stood up to walk back down to the Data Centre.

Melia wasn't sure how to feel. It was yet another entry in the lengthening line of conversations where Shulk appeared to be unusually interested in her personal well-being, but somehow this one felt significantly more genuine. She couldn't place why, but it perhaps had something to do with the unspoken assurance that the party would try to see her again after her future work was complete. It had been a while since she'd had anything to look forward to - even if it was years away and didn't make too much sense at the moment, with her friends currently within reach.

Of course, her thoughts inevitably steered towards Shulk in particular. If indeed she did have to take two consorts, he would be a very convenient choice for a Second, given that a friendship had already been established and he was no stranger to Alcamoth. The odds of him agreeing seemed low, especially given more than enough time would pass for him to find someone else or simply grow into a different person, but it wasn't like many Second Consorts were married by love anyway - most were married by lust or obligation.

 _What am I thinking? I would absolutely not take a consort without their wholehearted approval. There's already been enough upheaval and drama in the imperial family in my lifetime to last a millenium. There's no reason to bring an unwilling participant into it. Besides, it would remove Shulk from the rest of his friends and restrain him to Alcamoth. That's my fate, not his. As with carrying Meyneth, I suffer so the others don't have to.  
_

 _I somewhat hope I won't be allowed to have a Second Consort even if I wished. That would stop me from thinking about all this._

Melia looked down at the Chain Apple still sitting on the floor. She now felt neutral rather than un-hungry. Meeting the others in the Data Centre looking pleased with a half-eaten apple in hand seemed like a good idea.


	8. Opportunity

The mood in the Whitewing Palace was tense. The party sat around the table in the lobby of their room, nervously killing time before dinner. They had determined there wasn't anything else to do now in the way of sidequesting, so the rest of today would be nothing but rest and preparation for tomorrow - the day they planned to confront Egil.

Not bothering to ask for permission to enter, Alvis appeared and approached the table. "It is done, Shulk. I found Prince Kallian and have told him you plan to attack tomorrow. The allied force will begin their campaign in the morning."

"Thanks, Alvis." Shulk turned a page in the massive, thousand-plus-page book he had sitting on the table, clearly engrossed in whatever it was about.

The rest of the party didn't acknowledge with more than a nod. Melia was reading the newspaper, Sharla was cleaning her rifle, and Dunban, Reyn, and Riki were all playing Blackjack.

Alvis decided to sit down at the head of the table, placing himself with three people on each side. "I sense much stress and worry among you. Are you quite sure you are ready for tomorrow?"

Shulk looked up with half a frown on his face. "Maybe, maybe not. Who knows what Egil might have up his sleeve. But I don't think it's possible for us to be any more ready, and we've given him more than enough time to get himself ready for us. It's now or never."

"Very well."

A few minutes passed. Everyone continued to uphold the uncomfortable silence. With Alvis's arrival not even budging the mood, the tension kept getting thicker.

Finally, Sharla snapped. "Oh forget this. We can't just sit around and let the worry get to us." She moved her rifle to the empty chair next to her and addressed everyone. "We're playing a social game, right here right now. Get everyone back into high spirits."

"That's a good idea." Dunban quickly collected the cards and stowed them away. "What did you have in mind?"

"I dunno, something to get us all...involved with each other a bit more." Just as she said it, Sharla figured out what she was looking for. "Truth-or-Dare."

Reyn perked up and sat up. "Good call, Sharla. I can't wait to see what'll happen."

"Oooh! Riki knows this game! Riki already has good ideas!"

"Uhm..." Shulk glanced around a bit before realizing there were already four votes in favour. "...well, okay, I guess."

"I would rather not." Melia believed she knew what the game entailed: a series of embarrassing questions that had to be answered truthfully and dares to do things of extreme humiliation potential, and she was not at all interested in suffering either.

"Oh c'mon you stick-in-the-mud," joked Reyn. "Don't you want to watch us squirm under your demands?"

"I derive no pleasure in inflicting undeserved embarrassment upon others, especially when I proceed to experience it second-hand."

"How about we play easy mode then?" suggested Sharla. "Instead of just going freeform, we all write down our suggestions and mix them around. It adds the risk of getting your own, so no one will be demanding anything too crazy."

Shulk suddenly seemed a lot more interested, closing his book and placing it on his lap. "I like that idea, Sharla. It sounds a lot more fair. And we can have Alvis copy everything down so we can't tell who wrote what. You're okay with that, right, Alvis?"

Alvis's face changed to what could almost be described as a mischievous smirk. "Of course, Shulk. I am perfectly willing to aid in your game of friendship."

"That's great." Sharla passed around enough writing tools and slips of paper for all six. "Let's all put down one truth and one dare, and then everyone gets one of each."

Melia mentally slumped as everyone agreed. _Is this amount of peer pressure normal or healthy in a friendship?_

"Melly still not want to play." Riki bobbed up and down in his chair. "If Melly play, Riki take friends to dinner!"

Reyn laughed. "And how're you gonna do that, with your massive debt?"

"Riki know place! Budabi House of Fishes! Budabi go to school with Riki, take cooking and economics, open up Nopon restaurant in Alcamoth five years ago. Budabi no can charge full price for Heropon and friends!"

Melia knew that at this point there was no getting out of it without doing something exceptionally rude. "Fine." She sourly folded up the newspaper and sat stiff.

The others all nodded and began writing down their ideas.

Melia stared at her two blank strips of paper. What could she write that she wouldn't mind doing and wouldn't feel terrible inflicting onto anyone else, yet still fit the theme of the game and could not be immediately traced back to her? To no one's surprise, she was the last to fill out her submissions.

Once all the papers were collected, Alvis reproduced them onto a second set of slips surprisingly quickly, before folding them up into two piles and shuffling them around the table.

"Melly go first!" Riki insisted. "No hesitate!"

 _Fine, whatever, get it over with quickly._ With extreme hesitance, Melia carefully selected a slip of paper from the "truth" pile and slowly unfolded it. Her first reaction was that Alvis's handwriting was a lot nicer than she expected, which distracted her from actually reading it for just a moment.

 _Tell of a time you were very afraid._

Melia released the breath she didn't know she was holding. She had gotten her own suggestion, something which to her was not at all embarrassing, as the first thought that came to mind was something she didn't mind retelling. She placed the paper on the table for all to see and began, deciding to focus on the "fear" part rather than tell the story in whole.

"Many years ago, when I was still a novice in the ways of the ether staff, I was attacked by an assassin. She immediately took the upper hand and had me scrambling in panic to defend myself. I was quickly disarmed and left with no obvious options as she taunted me. I managed to take hold of my instructor's staff and continue fighting, but before long my arm was slashed and I could no longer hold it."

There was silence around the room. Everyone appeared to be midway between worry and anticipation, waiting for the conclusion.

After she figured they were expecting to hear the ending, Melia continued with an air that the mood was spoiled. "Luckily, the rescue party arrived just in time."

The tension left the room, though it seemed to have been replaced with an interest in hearing the whole story.

Sharla decided to kill the awkward silence by taking a paper from the truth pile. "I'll go next." She unfolded the paper, read it, bit her lip, and placed it on the table.

"A childhood bad habit then? I was a nose-picker. I kept getting nosebleeds for doing it too much."

Melia was grossed out, but no one else appeared to be. In fact, Shulk looked sheepish more than anything, and Reyn looked almost impressed.

Reyn didn't give much time to reflect before taking his turn. He unfolded his chosen paper and looked confused. "My favourite place on the Bionis? Uh...well...maybe...you know what, I'm going to say the kneecap. We've been to a whole bunch of places that I guess are more impressive-looking, but seeing both titans from below just...I dunno, it's kind of a special place in my mind. The closest cool view to Colony 9 I suppose. Seen it a lot, never get tired of it."

Riki quickly snatched the paper closest to him. "Oooh, ask when Riki forget something important. Riki have this happen too many times...Riki choose to say he forget Oka's birthday sometimes. It sometimes same time as Nopon festival weekend, so very busy and forget. But littlepon always remind Riki before too big trouble."

Dunban was the next to reach for a question. "What did I fake being sick for? Heh, I would never do such a thing. I was too much of an energetic lad, I'd never be able to fake being sick, everyone would see through it easily."

Shulk took the last item from the truth pile. "Who in this group would I hate to fight the most?" He put on a thoughtful face and stared off into the distance. "Hmm, that's a tricky one." His hand moved to his chin as he pondered.

A minute or two passed. Reyn and Dunban both looked like they were awaiting the reasoning for selecting them. Riki looked bored. Sharla and Melia waited patiently.

Eventually, Shulk had his answer. "I'd have to say Melia."

No one expected the choice; a definite feeling of surprise rippled around the table.

"I mean, I've fought Reyn enough times, I'm not really afraid of him. I might not be able to beat Dunban or Riki without the Monado, but with the visions it gives me, I don't think they'd be that tough. Sharla is a better healer than a fighter; she'd be a pain at range, but she can't really keep me at range with all the reloading she has to do. And altogether Monado Purge would just stop all of you from doing anything really dangerous."

"But Melia...I'd never be able to even get started. If a Telethia can't dodge an elemental, my visions would be useless too. She can just shoot me as much as she wants, and even if I get close she has multiple arts to get away. And with shooting elementals as her talent art, I'd have to keep picking between Monado Purge and Monado Shield for whatever's coming, and neither would protect from everything. She's pretty much got everything she needs to shut me down."

Melia wasn't sure what to make of what felt like unusually high praise of her combat abilities; sure, she was indeed acknowledged as a prodigy by her instructor and family, but to claim she could defeat the wielder of the Monado with ease still seemed too lofty to be true. Her mind was mixed with scepticism and pride.

"Shulk take dare next." Riki said. "Friends do dares in backwards order!"

"Uh...well okay, get it over with I guess."

Shulk closed his eyes and grabbed the first dare his hand touched. His posture collapsed as he read it, but he didn't waste any time in getting up, standing on his chair, and belting out the alphabet song at full volume. He was on-rhythm and hit all the notes, but otherwise was an absolutely terrible singer. Even though he went as quickly as possible, by the time he was finished, no one was interested in laughing at him.

Dunban aimed to move on by quickly selecting his dare, followed by shaking his head. "Reyn, you're so transparent. Who did you _want_ to get this one?"

"What?" Reyn was unsuccessfully trying to make it look like he didn't know what Dunban was talking about.

Dunban didn't care about not receiving an admission of guilt. Instead, he proceeded to carry out the dare and take off his shirt. This wasn't a novel occurence, so everyone kind of just shrugged and moved on.

"Riki turn!" Riki quickly grabbed a paper and read it. "Riki's head is not flat, but he will try anyway." With that, he flipped himself over to perch on his head, leaning against the back of the chair to stay reasonably upright.

"I think you're supposed to use your arms in a headstand," offered Shulk.

"Riki is fine, as long as he not sneeze. Friends continue, Riki likes this."

It was Reyn's turn. Once he began reading his selection, his face fell. "Oh for...really? Alright, who- eh I'll probably find out later."

He slowly stood up and marched over to Riki's chair, before picking him up and squeezing him in what could be either a hug or a deathgrip.

"You're the best Heropon that ever ponned!"

The table erupted in laughter. While Reyn immediately dropped Riki and slid back into his own seat, it took several seconds to get over the situation.

Melia didn't laugh as hard as the others. That was her dare that Reyn had selected, meaning that she was guaranteed to get someone else's. She could feel the worry starting to build up.

Sharla flipped her attention back and forth between the two remaining dares for about ten seconds before finally choosing one. "Peel a Cool Lemon and eat it whole. Oh yeah, I don't have a problem with this. Can it wait until dinner though?"

"Riki say yes! No dare enough to ruin dinner for!"

The others all voiced agreement, knowing that Sharla wouldn't be trying to weasel out of it later.

With much nervousness, Melia picked up and unfolded the last dare.

 _Ask the person across the table from you out on a date._

Melia immediately felt a blanket of fear land on her body, but she shook it off surprisingly quickly. _This isn't that bad. I ask the question, they say no, everyone laughs, we move on._ She looked up across the table.

To where Shulk sat.

It felt like her heart stopped beating for five seconds, before resuming at triple speed. Her mind was immediately split in two, one side yelling "Don't let him break you with his answer!" and the other screaming "This is your chance!"

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Reyn's and Riki's excitement growing that she had picked up something major, while Dunban and Sharla looked more concerned. She couldn't read Shulk's face; he seemed more patient than anything, likely oblivious at any change in her behaviour.

Something within her chest pushed her to expel the building pressure immediately, her voice warbling with panic.

" _Sh_ ul _k_! Wo _ul_ d you _ta_ ke m _e_ out on a d _at_ e?"

Shulk's eyebrows went up. It was the tamest reaction at the table; Reyn's mouth fell open, Sharla popped up a bit and clasped her hands together, Dunban leaned back and crossed his arm, and Riki rocketed straight up a few metres before slowly floating back down.

Melia could feel her face almost bleeding with embarrassment. She remained stiff as a board, scared that any sort of movement would break her posture and send her into a terrified ball, waiting for the answer that would almost surely confirm his lack of interest in her.

"What an intriguing development."

No one expected Alvis to make a comment, and all looked at him in confusion. With no clear expression on his face, he explained.

"Alcamoth has a great deal of fascinating, vestigial, and unusual obscure laws. And whether she recalls its existence or not, Her Majesty has just invoked one of them." He turned to Melia. "Are you aware of what I speak?"

Melia had no clue. She had of course been taught every single law in existence at some point, but it had been a fairly long time and the more obscure ones had simply left her, especially in such an emotionally-charged moment. She responded in a small, toneless voice. "I do not recall anything relevant to recent events. I trust it is not something illegal that someone has done?"

"...Not yet." Alvis paused just long enough for everyone to get a bit worried. "But do not worry, I am certain no illegal activity is imminent."

"Stop playin' with us then," Reyn blurted. "Give it to us straight, Shulk's got an answer to give."

Alvis nodded. "Indeed he does. But not by his own choice. You see, this law governs how he must answer the question posed of him: It is illegal to decline an offer of courtship, regardless of its nature, from a member of the imperial family."

Before the shocked pause around the table could truly sink in, Shulk shrugged. "Well then I guess my answer's yes. Is tonight good?"

The other four members of the party let loose a murmur of "oooh"s.

Melia unconsciously took in a sharp inhale that made almost a squeaking sound. "Y-y-yes, of course."

"Great." Shulk nodded with a nervous smile. "How about we go to dinner at six-thirty?"

"That sounds...wonderful." Without really thinking about what she was doing, Melia looked at the clock, stood up, and began inching towards the exit. "I shall...have to go get ready."

"Oh yeah, go ahead. I'll be here."

"...thank you."

Melia turned and scampered away towards her chambers, tripping over her own feet several times. She couldn't believe it - on the last day before confronting Egil, she would be having a date with Shulk. It was almost the best possible scenario, ignoring the awkward circumstances that forced the issue. Her head was filled with the hopes that she could connect enough with him that they could maintain a relationship past the party's adventure. The door was opened by a crack; she had to stick her foot in and made sure it wouldn't close.

With the lady of the moment gone, Reyn turned to Shulk and shook his head. "Smooth, man. I'll be honest, I never thought you'd be able to catch a girl who didn't know you, much less a princess. Or empress, even. Good on ya."

"Shulk and Melly have _bestest_ time together!" Riki stated. "Riki still take other friends to Budabi's. But Riki jealous now!"

"It's nice to see you've moved on," Dunban said, a tear in his eye. "And I can't think of a better way."

"And I don't know if you've noticed, but Melia's always fancied you," added Sharla. "You're going to have a great time together. I do wonder, though - who wrote that dare? No way she was bold enough to do it herself, and it didn't cross my mind."

The others shook their heads and mumbled generic "no"s and "not me"s, looking at each other for answers.

Shulk was smiling a little wider now. From under the table, he pulled out the book he was reading before the game began, which despite coming from an Alcamoth library was written in the Common alphabet, and placed it on the table for all to see.

The book was _Complete Laws of Alcamoth, Homs Edition_.

* * *

The long walk through the palace to her room gave Melia far too much time to think, jolting her tittering mind across what felt like a dozen topics. But by the time she got to her door and closed it behind herself, it had settled on two specific problems.

First of all, she had effectively zero knowledge of what it even _meant_ to go on a date with someone. Sure, they were going to have dinner together, but was there anything else she was supposed to do? Did she have to provide a gift? Who was supposed to be paying? Presumably the main event was the dinner conversation; were there any particular topics that were mandatory or taboo? Did any of these questions have different answers between the Homs and High Entia societies, and if so, which one would a hybrid date need to conform to? For once she regretted her complete lack of interest or experience in the romance genre of fiction.

But the second problem was more tangible and immediate: she felt she couldn't properly participate in a date between two people with a third person living inside her, potentially giving her advice or distractions at poor times. No matter how well-intentioned such attempts could be, she didn't want the possibility to exist. Besides, such offerings didn't even have to be intentional - they could be subconscious on both their parts, as demonstrated by the past little while of occasionally feeling an external emotion.

After about fifteen minutes of internal deliberation on the topic, Melia decided she had to speak to Meyneth. But there wasn't enough time to fall asleep and try to find her, especially since she was probably too excited to do so. She had to try something else.

"I presume you cannot hear my thoughts any more than I can yours," she began aloud, "so I shall speak to be heard."

"While it has been with reluctance, I have accepted your being to live within my body without argument or complaint. Your instincts and knowledge have been instrumental in our success in traversing Mechonis thus far, and will surely become ever more important in whatever will pass tomorrow. I would not hesitate to say that without us conjoined, we would all be dead."

"But as you can surely feel, it is tiresome to live with another mind within me. We may be unable to freely communicate, or have our inner privacies unknowingly spilled, but for two to exist in the body of one is a continuous drain on my personal thoughts and sense of self. And this upcoming evening has been set as a once-in-a-lifetime event that I feel cannot be truly enjoyed with a voice in one's ear."

"So here is my request: Allow me to experience this evening alone. I am fully aware this is quite a selfish ask of you. I cannot deny that you may very well not trust me to willingly redon your presence afterward, exploiting this as an opportunity to rid myself of you forever. But you have seen what kind of person I am, through not only my own actions, but how others interact with me. Whether you trust me is your own choice. And even then, you may very well be unable to survive for long enough without a body, and reject my request on that basis instead. And while I would be disappointed, if there is nothing that could be done, then so be it."

"I believe that is all I have to say. I do not expect you to grant my wishes or even acknowledge them. After all, I am quite used to being denied my desires for the greater good. But please at least consider my request."

Her spiel finished, Melia sat on the bed and waited for a bit. She figured it would take no more than five minutes for Meyneth to come to a decision, and if she didn't get some sort of response by then, the answer would be "no".

To her surprise, it only took about half a minute before she could feel something: a weird sensation in her head that could best be described as a "slithering headache". The pain shot up in intensity as the odd feeling spread downward into her neck, and kept getting stronger.

Melia leapt towards a pillow and buried her face in it just in time.

The pain exploded, filling her entire head and neck with million-degree flames. It was beyond unimaginable; it felt like her entire skull was being sucked out through a tiny pinprick in her neck. Her legs flailed through the air as she screamed like mad into the pillow.

Then just as suddenly as it appeared, it was gone. It had only lasted three seconds, though it felt like ten times more.

After lying still for about a minute to rest and regain her senses, Melia could feel her mind at ease. Meyneth was gone. Fiora's experience remained grafted into her brain, as she had expected, but the second set of instincts had been shut off. She once again felt alone in her head. It was almost peaceful.

She sat up. The chestplate left her behind, sitting on the bed like an inert paperweight. The silver wire out its top side was no longer topped by a golden collar, but by a standard-looking electrical plug. It looked a bit goofy, but its purpose was obvious.

"You have my enduring gratitude, Meyneth."

Melia picked up the object and placed it on her desk before plugging it into the wall. She wasn't worried for its safety, as no cleaning or maintenance was scheduled this evening, and it wasn't like anyone outside her immediate allies knew it was anything beyond a hunk of metal. The only person she feared getting his hands on it was Dickson, and even then, for him to set foot anywhere near this floor of the palace would indicate much bigger security problems.

 _It's time to get ready. Everything must be absolutely perfect._ She stepped into the shower and began making plans for her appearance for the night.

Generally, Melia disliked make-up. It was a pain to apply and remove, and she felt it projected a false image of who she was (not that she much liked her body as it was to begin with). As a result, for most occasions, she only did the bare minimum to keep others happy. But this evening was different - it felt like her one chance to catch Shulk before their adventure's conclusion and his disappearance from her life. There was no reason to leave any stops unpulled.

Once the longer-than-usual shower was finished, she started re-braiding her hair, but had a thought. _Father and Brother have both said that I might appear more mature if I had my hair down. I can see their point of view in the sense that two tails is generally regarded as a more "childish" and "cutesy" style. But hairstyle is quite a strong part of a person's silhouette and overall visual identity. Is that the sort of thing to be messing with for tonight?_

It was a tough first decision to make. She'd never honestly considered changing hairstyles before - she'd had two tails for as long as she could remember, and the braiding had served her quite well for staying out of the way and requiring a reasonably low upkeep of one rebraid a week. Even if she did something different tonight, it would have to go back to normal for tomorrow. On the other hand, as she looked in the mirror and saw her Homs-inherited curls roll down her back and spread out across her shoulders and midsection, she did indeed get a sense that it looked more "womanly".

 _...No. I'm not prepared to undertake such a radical change for a single night. Besides, I'm not used to it, and so it'd be quite annoying to tolerate._

Decision made and hair braided, Melia's next step was to do up her face, attempting to accentuate her existing appearance rather than conjure a new one. Fair foundation, faint pink lipstick, weak silvery eyeshadow, perfectly spaced eyelashes, trimmed and aligned eyebrows, extra-preened wings, the works. It had been a very long time since she'd applied more than two or three of these elements at once; it almost felt like she was back in school, taking a cosmetics application test.

The choice of outfit came next. She couldn't get too formally glamorous; she would be going out as a civilian after all, and didn't need to attract any more attention than a hybrid/Homs couple in Alcamoth already would. It would have to be something subdued at a distance but eye-catching up close.

 _I cannot place why, but I feel like burgundy would be a good colour to remain beneath public notice without sacrificing saturation. Gold highlights and fire gems would do well to match._

It didn't take long to put together an outfit matching her instincts: a full-length skirt and gold-trimmed vest of the same burgundy shade, a rich overcoat of a slightly purpler hue, maroon gloves and socks, and deep violet low-heeled shoes, all pulled together with a golden belt. The look was accessorised with a round-topped burgundy hat with a golden band, a handbag that matched the overcoat, a gold necklace with three hexagonal fire gems hanging from it, and a pair of tiny diamond pendant fire gem earrings (small enough that they remained affixed through ether alone instead of having to deal with her unpierced ears).

Melia looked in the mirror. It almost looked like she had stolen someone else's body, with how unfamiliar it was to do herself up to this degree. It felt hard to believe that even Shulk, the stereotypical socially-oblivious nerd, wouldn't be stunned by her change in appearance.

The next step was to fill up her handbag. She tossed her travel pouch inside without a thought, simply because it felt wrong to leave her chambers without it nowadays, even though the things inside were for travelling in the wilderness rather than having dinner in the city. She collected a wallet from the dresser and filled it with a handful of banknotes, deciding it was foolish to assume that Shulk would remember to bring enough money himself. The forecast was clear, so there was no need to bring an umbrella.

Finally, there was the question of whether to take her staff. The Imperial Staff was obviously out of the question for her to be seen carrying in public; she was already forced to leave it in the palace whenever the party was in Alcamoth proper, and had to take extreme care to keep it hidden from any other High Entia across the entire Bionis. Most of the time, she could simply carry her Protect Staff instead, as it was of a popular design. But was it proper to carry a weapon while on a date? True, restaurants would generally allow patrons to carry a holstered ether staff, whereas many other weapons such as rapiers or ether firearms were major no-nos, simply due to many people carrying staffs for aesthetic value while being unable to actually muster any sort of effect out of them. But it still felt improper somehow to be armed while the Monado would certainly be left under guard in the Whitewing Palace.

After several minutes of deliberation, the Protect Staff was attached to her belt. It had been so long since she'd left the palace without one that she believed doing so now would carry a lot of extra anxiety that she certainly didn't need.

Melia took one last look at herself, ensuring that nothing was out of place. Something told her that this may just be the most important dinner of her life.


	9. Premiere

Melia stood at the door to the party's room in the Whitewing Palace frozen with self-doubt. She'd already gotten a lot of curious looks from the guards and other palace staff on her way here, who normally didn't bat an eye at whatever she was wearing. How bad was it going to be to see her done-up-ness leaving the palace just before dinnertime with only Shulk alongside her?

Of course, she couldn't just stand here forever. The Whitewing Palace wasn't exactly private property; anyone with outrageously deep pockets could spend a night in the ritziest hotel in the city. The fact that the imperial family allowed a party of Homs indefinite occupancy of the six-bedroom penthouse for free irked more than a few of the resident high-rollers. Despite this, the party still preferred to spend most nights in Dunban's house, not wanting to become used to the opulent lifestyle.

Gathering all her willpower, Melia opened the door and walked in.

The lobby was mostly empty, with the party apparently having already gone to Budabi's with Riki. But Shulk was there, sitting hunched in the most distant chair on the far side of the table, looking like he was trying extremely hard to not chew his fingernails.

Once Shulk heard that Melia had entered the room, he quickly stood up and stepped away from the table, revealing his crisp suit. It was almost the same shade of burgundy as Melia's outfit, with a nice white shirt, matching tie, and shiny jet-black shoes.

Melia attempted to change mental tracks; she expected Shulk to have a less-than-impressive appearance, but she'd forgotten about the outfits she had commissioned the others for her coronation feast, and were clearly a good fit for this occasion. It would probably be in her best interests to make a positive comment about it.

But before she could gather her new thoughts and get a word out, Shulk intervened.

"You look absolutely mellifluous."

The adjective struck a chord in Melia's memory. As a child many years ago, when she was actively seeking out unusual words to expand her already-gargantuan vocabulary, she came upon this word that resembled her name and meant "sweet and smooth as honey". The parallels were too amusing to ignore - she was named after an old name for the scuppertree, the favoured habitat of Cinnamon Honeybees. It became her new favourite word for a few days, until something else displaced it. She'd never heard it used by anyone else aside from her mother asking what it meant.

"...thank you." It was a meek response, thrown out only because she sensed it was taking her too long to create a real one. She could feel her face burning.

Shulk smiled. He had a feeling that taking a dip in the thesaurus to craft his opening line would do him good. He moved to his next pre-prepared sentence. "Ready to go?"

The more natural phrase made Melia feel a bit more at ease. "Yes. Let us exit through the hotel's main entrance, instead of through the palace." It was surprising how quickly the idea came to mind; it would be ideal to avoid her passing by the palace staff again.

"Sounds good. You lead the way." Shulk followed Melia out of the room and through the unfamiliar transporter that led down to the hotel's lobby, before walking outside into the darkening sky.

Melia had a thought as they cleared the entrance. "I don't suppose you have a plan as to where we'll be having dinner?" She tried to keep her mind in a state where this was just two friends having dinner together; it might be easier to keep herself focused than to consider it a date.

"Actually, I do." Shulk reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a paper with some of his writing scrawled across it. "Alvis showed me a map of restaurants and I found one that looks pretty good."

"...oh." Melia felt a bit worried; Shulk seemed like the kind of guy who would prefer a lower-quality restaurant, or even a fast-food joint. True, she didn't have any ideas herself, but at least she had taste, and her experience with cooking confirmed that Shulk absolutely did not.

"So, uh..." Shulk glanced at his paper and looked around for the nearest cross-dome transporter, which was faintly visible in the distance. "We're going to...the Helios District."

Melia immediately felt slightly more optimistic. The Helios District was the richest of all Alcamoth's subdomes, with no restauraunts below four stars, and it would be much easier for the pair's outfits to mesh with the crowd and render them inconspicuous. But on the other hand, it also housed the snootiest and snobbiest of residents; a Homs would stick out like a sore thumb even more than in the rest of the city.

Having found the transporter, Shulk began walking. Melia dashed a bit to catch up and walk alongside.

The Capital District was mostly empty. Citizens generally did not hang around the area during dinnertime, as the dome was light on public food services. And with the news already out that the attack on Mechonis was tomorrow morning, all hands were preparing for the assault, and only a skeleton crew of guards were stationed about. It was not difficult to reach the transporter in short order.

Things could not be more different at the other end of the transport. The streets of the Helios District were flooded with people - some coming home form work, others going out to dinner, but all clearly of the upper class. Every man had either a sleek, spotless suit or an ornate and complex robe; every woman was sporting a flowing gown with all manner of convoluted hairstyles. The proportion of visible half-bloods was markedly smaller than in other neighbourhoods.

Shulk clearly looked a bit flustered by the crowd; while it wasn't new to be amongst the upper crust, this was on a new level of density and judgement. Still, he did a pretty good job of walking straight, not staring at anything, and keeping out of peoples' way.

Melia was worried that Shulk might miss what he was looking for in the commotion, but without knowing herself what it was she couldn't assist. At least she could suggest an alternate destination if he did get irrevocably lost.

"Ah, there it is." Shulk pointed to a sign ahead on the right.

Melia looked up to see _The Flying Fish_. It didn't take long to recall that she had been here before, and it was indeed quite nice.

It took even less time after that to remember what had happened afterwards: a national emergency and life-threatening battle fought inside a burning office tower.

After realizing she had stopped walking for a few seconds, she shook her head and continued moving. _Those memories are no longer relevant. Ignore them and move on._

Shulk stopped moving just before the doors, apparently unsure how to proceed. It allowed Melia to catch up. But as she reached for the door, he stepped ahead to open it for her.

 _Okay, you got me._ Melia figured Shulk wouldn't have any sense of chivalry, so it was nice to discover otherwise as she walked inside.

The atmosphere in _The Flying Fish_ was dim. None of the house lights were on; every table was lit by a single candle in the centre, while the waiters carried glowing gems in their lapels and cufflinks. A chalkboard sign near the entrance advertised that tonight's mood was set for "romance". The place was quite busy; no empty tables were visible nearby, and the vast majority of the patrons were couples.

The host, a half-blooded surprisingly young-looking man waiting at a podium just to the right of the doors, bowed. "Welcome, sir and madam. I regret to inform you that we have no tables available at the moment. I trust you have no qualms with being seated in a booth?"

Melia was a bit distracted from answering; the last time she had been here, the host was a much older pureblood man. To have someone with small wings act as the establishment's public face was quite the statement for a five-star restaurant in the richest part of the city.

Shulk couldn't wait any longer for Melia to answer, so he nervously spoke up. "Y...yes, a booth is fine. Sir." He didn't know what the proper way to address this person was.

"Excellent. Please follow me."

The host led them to one of the few empty booths, in the back-left corner of the restaurant. The tablecloth was the same cozy red colour as the padded benches.

"Please be seated," the host said. "Your menus will arrive momentarily." He then backed away and turned to leave, expecting no thanks.

Melia sat down quickly. Shulk took a bit more time, marveling in the high-quality construction around. As soon as the benches were occupied, a small light in the base of the candlestick flickered on, activating a dampening field that muted all sound outside the booth while also emitting some faint classical music by a string quartet.

"I don't understand this choice of lighting." Melia glared at the candlestick. "Why is a flickering dimness considered "romantic"? I would much prefer to properly see what I'm doing."

Shulk looked to be considering the rhetorical question. After a moment, he answered. "Well, the room being dark means it's harder to be distracted by anything that's not at the table. And putting the light source down in the middle means there's no visible shadows over anyone's faces. Seems like a simple way to push the focus towards the people at the table, and nothing else."

Melia found the answer fascinating - a reasonably strong, logical explanation to an emotional tradition. "That's...an intriguing way to look at it."

The waiter appeared, a tall and lanky pureblood with a thin mustache. "Your menus, sir and madam." He handed each of them a stiff booklet.

"Thank you." Melia nodded for both of them as the waiter walked away.

Shulk was too distracted to respond. The menus were on black card with the text and images printed with glow-in-the-dark ink, and it blew his mind. "Whoa, this is cool. Lets you read it even in the dark. Brilliant."

Melia ignored the nerd and began picking out her meal. It wasn't too difficult a choice - sourshrimp was one of her favourites, and one of the most promiment variants was flavoured with lemon and served with mushroom-sauced farfalle on the side. Brightgrape wine felt like the correct drink to match, but even though she knew she had enough tolerance to take two glasses of wine, it still felt unnerving and scary to bring it into the equation on such an occasion. Normally she would default to the non-alcoholic Entian Ale, but its taste was a very poor companion to shrimp. What could be a better alternative?

Shulk appeared to be having a hard time with the menu; he was continuously flipping back and forth, holding it up to his face and squinting a lot.

 _He's not used to this sort of choice,_ Melia reasoned. _He likely has analysis paralysis, made even worse by his eclectic tastes._ "Shulk, do you require assistance?"

"Uh...no I'm getting through it. Just a little slow is all." He dragged his finger along a line. "When they say it's apple "cider", does that mean it's alcoholic? Because I'd rather not."

Melia looked back down the drinks page in her own menu, both glad and unsurprised that Shulk also wanted to remain indisputably sober. "Yes, cider is typically alcoholic in these restaurants. Perhaps you should select a fizzy drink."

"...a what?" Shulk looked confused as he stared at the menu. "Fissy? Is that an actual word? Well okay I see it here so it must be. What's it mean?"

"Er..." Melia thought that Homs did indeed have fizzy drinks. "Don't you have carbonated beverages in Colony 9?"

"Oh, you mean _pop_. Okay. Culture word differences I guess." Despite claiming to understand, he continued to move over the menu very slowly.

Melia eyed Shulk's behaviour with a bit of worry; she didn't exactly want to wait an extra five or ten minutes for him to figure out what he was having. But it did give her an idea of what to have to drink.

A few minutes later, the waiter returned with notepad in hand. "Have you prepared your orders?"

"I have," Melia responded, a little bit slowly to give Shulk more time. "I would like the Sourshrimp Special with a medium Ko-Ko Kola."

"Excellent. And you, sir?"

Shulk glanced up nervously, trying not to drop an "uh" or "um". "...I'd like...the fish and chips, the one without broccoli. And the...medium...Ko-Ko Kola."

"Very well." The waiter recorded the orders. "Your food shall be served as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience." He collected the menus and walked away.

Shulk looked at Melia. "I didn't know you were a pop person. I figured you'd have wine or something."

"That was indeed my first instinct, but..." She paused to figure out how to explain her decision. "I am used to dining in high-end restaurants. By contrast, it is clear you are skittish and apprehensive. I feel it is only fair for me to join in the nervousness of trying something new."

It took Shulk a moment to parse the meaning. "You've never had pop before?"

"Correct. I have had champagne, of course, but my understanding is that its fizziness does not compare to that of Ko-Ko Kola, Pep!, and similar popular sugary fizzy drinks."

Shulk silently mouthed "fizzy" a few times, clearly confused. "So wait, is it "fissy" or "fizzy"?"

Melia didn't know what the problem was. "Fizzy, of course. You did see it in the menu, correct?"

"Well yeah, but wasn't it spelled "fissy"?"

"Of course not, can't you re-" Melia's face morphed from confusion to realization, then to pity, and finally back to confusion again. She had completely forgotten that Homs couldn't read Erythscript, and so Shulk had been fumbling through the menu as if blind. But if he was truly illiterate to High Entia writing, how did he place an order, or misread "fizzy" as "fissy"? Or even parse the restauraunt's sign in the first place?

Shulk recognized there was a thought process going on and guessed what it was. "I've been learning to read your letters for a few days now. I started with your name, because it was pretty easy to pick out from the headlines and stuff. From there I just compared what I knew to other things and filled in the blanks." He put a hand in his pocket but failed to pull out whatever he was looking for. "Normally I carry a little paper around with what I know so far on it, but I guess I forgot to move it into these pants. It's maybe three quarters done."

Melia was natively bilingual, so she couldn't relate, but it felt like it had to be some sort of feat to decode even half an alphabet alone. "That's impressive, Shulk, for a beginner of a few days to successfully place an order in a restaurant without help."

Shulk shrugged. It wasn't impressive to him, after all; he loved codes and ciphers as a kid, and his lab work made him pretty good at discovering patterns in seemingly-random data. "Well, I mean the pictures helped. And if you didn't tell me I'd have no idea what it meant by "fissy". Or "fizzy", whichever."

Melia now realized the source of the mix-up. "Your confusion is understandable. Our letters S and Z are almost identical but for a small stroke in the bottom-right. Much like your O and Q."

"...Oh, wow, that's..." Shulk looked both relieved and dumbfounded. "It's both so obvious and so annoying. I thought that extra mark was like the uppercase tick, not a whole new letter, and Z is one of the ones I hadn't figured out yet. That helps."

The conversation hit a lull. Melia didn't have anything more to offer on the alphabet topic without specific requests for clarification, and Shulk appeared content to sit and wait for the food to arrive. It started to feel a bit awkward.

"So, uh..." Shulk tried to get it started again. "You kind of froze up a bit when we got here. What was that about? Did something happen here in the past?"

Melia was surprised that Shulk noticed; as far as she could tell, he wasn't looking her way when the memories hit her. She wondered how much of the story needed to be told - it wasn't exactly pleasant to remember. Maybe she could get away with just general facts. "This restaurant was a very different place the last time I was here - it was staffed entirely by pure-bloods and under the control of the Diamonts Syndicate. I suppose when the syndicate collapsed, the restaurant was forced to change its management, under which it has apparently become significantly more progressive."

Shulk's head tilted a bit. "Syndicate? You mean, some sort of crime ring?"

"Yes. The Diamonts Syndicate was the largest protection racket in Alcamoth, with a fair amount of high-end fronts such as this one. But after its headquarters was discovered, they lost their leadership and ended up withering away."

"Cool. So how'd you find them?"

"What leads you to believe I played any part in it?"

Shulk shrugged sheepishly. "Well, I mean, the way you stopped walking didn't feel like you were just remembering that the place was different. It was more like you were remembering an event. Sorry if I'm wrong."

Melia considered for a moment whether the correct move was to admit or deny. She didn't really want to relive it, and while she knew the sonic dampening field around the booth was two-way due to passing by the many other tables in near silence, she still felt it was a bit risky to discuss events that could out her true identity to eavesdroppers. But at the same time, presenting herself as having an interesting past might help draw Shulk's eye to her.

"No, you are correct. I did indeed play a major part in defeating them."

Shulk changed his seated posture a bit, but didn't say anything, expecting her to start the story.

After glancing around a bit in paranoia, Melia began. "I've...never had to retell the story before, as the events were broadcasted live across the entire city, so everyone old enough to speak would have witnessed it firsthand. So..."

"It began at this restaurant, just over two years ago. I was on an excursion, and it was recommended by the guard I had selected to escort me that day. Of course, he turned out to be a traitor. He somehow communicated to his comrades here to slip a sleeping agent into my lunch, making it all too easy for him to take me to the Diamonts headquarters. I awoke restrained to a chair to be used as ransom. But the goons assumed I would be helpless, and did not prepare for resistance. It was trivial to summon my staff from across the room and incapacitate them, followed by freeing myself and escaping into the building. With all the exits locked down by the kingpin, I was forced to climb up every one of the tower's fifteen floors, dispatching dozens of assailants along the way. Upon reaching the top floor, I was able to summon my ship and escape, leaving the kingpin to fall to his doom and the building to collapse from being set ablaze."

Shulk appeared reasonably impressed, sitting up a bit straighter and intently leaning forward the whole time. "Wow. Sounds like an adventure. So that was two years ago? Let's see, what was I doing two years ago...maybe, uh...well, I...might have...no. No, I can't think of anything interesting." His face turned down a bit. "All the stuff from then, it's boring kid stuff. Getting in trouble for doing or not doing things. Reyn being a doofus. Fiora...helping the both of us out. Dunban going out to save the world. Dickson moaning about pretty much everything. There's no real big events anywhere in there, until the Mechon attacked and I took the Monado."

"I find that hard to believe," Melia countered. "There's bound to have been something in your past that merits an interesting story."

Shulk shook his head. "I'm an engineer. I solve problems. I don't go out and do things. I actually avoided going out, pretty much, I liked it when I could just work on the same thing every day with no events getting in the way. Besides, you have seventy years on me, that's way more time for you to build up an interesting past."

"I suppose that is...true. Hold a moment, how do you know my age? I'm fairly sure I haven't told any of you."

"I was using the newspaper to learn your alphabet, remember? It's been in there a few times. There was this one article comparing you to...to...uh, your aunt, whatever her name was. It mentioned that she became empress at fifty while you did at eighty-eight. Then it threw in some funny words that I guess can't be translated directly or something, so I skipped the rest of it. But yeah."

Melia wondered how much else Shulk had dug up without her knowledge. Not without good intentions, certainly, but it was still somewhat disturbing. She quite liked having her two lives distinct and separate, with full control of only the absolute minimum crossing between them.

"So, uh..." Shulk looked around. "How long does this normally take? To get our food? I was hungry earlier but it's kind of died off now."

"Depending on the order, and how busy the kitchens are, anywhere from ten to thirty minutes. Perhaps even longer, given that all the tables are occupied tonight." Melia shared Shulk's dislike of waiting to be served, but unlike him was used to the experience.

"Oh, well, I guess that makes sense. I mean, they can't really just make a bunch of stuff and wait for someone to order it, right? Yeah." He shuffled his sitting position a bit. "I guess we should have shown up earlier. I wouldn't have thought of that."

Melia got the impression Shulk was berating himself. "It is a learning experience as much as any other. Do not reprimand yourself for not knowing."

"Yeah, I guess." Shulk looked down at the stack of napkins on the table, which was slightly ionized so the top few sheets were easy to grab individually. "I hope there won't be any multi-fork nonsense."

"For fish and chips? No." Melia recalled how none of her friends had any idea how to handle the three forks and two knives set out for each of them at her coronation feast. It was somewhat amusing, but mostly awkward.

"Good. It's one of those things that just...I dunno, I just don't see why it exists. Why waste so many forks on one person? Does the kitchen just have too many of them and they want to get them all used?"

"Like many things, it originated as a display of wealth. The wealthiest families would place as many as five forks per person at the table, simply to brag about how they possessed so much silverware that they could use one piece for each course. Over time, it became the standard for high cuisine."

Shulk nodded and hmmed but couldn't think of a proper response.

The waiter appeared, carrying a small tray with two large glasses on it. "Your drinks, sir and madam." He placed each one down in front of them, leaving plenty of room for the future food.

"Thank you," Melia responded as he walked away. She investigated the glasses: they contained a dark brown fizzy liquid, had a cylindrical ice gem embedded in their base to keep the beverage cold, and came with a flexible straw clipped onto the outside of the rim.

Shulk cautiously reached forward to take the straw, flip it around so it was clipped to the inside of the glass, and take a small pull. He immediately had to fight with himself to not drink any more and end up with less then half a glass by the time the food arrived. "Oh good. I was hoping it wouldn't taste too different from a Homs pop."

Melia took hold of the cold glass of foreign liquid and prepared to have a sip.

"No no no." Shulk shook his head. "You got a straw for a reason. Use it."

 _I suppose he is the one that knows better for this specific situation._ Melia decided it wasn't worth trying to argue, and it wasn't like she was opposed to drinking straws - she just wasn't used to using them without her mask on. She took the straw, stuck it into the drink, and took her first taste of the cola.

The taste was indescribable, something completely new that couldn't be compared to anything else she'd ever had, and the bubbles were far more powerful than she expected. She could feel her face going through a dozen different arrangements trying to figure out how to respond to the extreme fizziness. It was certainly a positive reaction.

"Looks like you like it." Shulk appeared pleased.

Melia let go to begin creating a response, but the unclipped straw buoyed out of the glass and bopped her in the nose before falling onto the table.

Shulk lasted for about one second before dumping his laughter all over the table, leaning in on one arm and chuckling like mad. He would pay a thousand G to watch that again.

It took Melia a moment to realize what had happened. Once she did, she agreed it was quite funny, and showed it with a more reserved chortle.

"I must admit I was wondering why you chose to reclamp your straw." She picked her own up and ensured it was clamped securely in the glass before taking a napkin to clean the minor drips it had left on the table. It was obvious in hindsight - the fizzing bubbles latched onto the straw to lift it out of the liquid. But with no experience in the combination of straw with fizzy drink, she didn't see it coming.

Shulk unsuccessfully tried to straighten up for a few moments, still laughing. Eventually he slowed down enough to speak. "Making a rookie mistake with a straw in pop. It's nice to know you're still human."

Melia understood the phrase - Shulk was saying she wasn't some magical being with infinite knowledge about food and dining - but it was still a bit jarring to hear the word "human" used. She was used to it being used by High Entia to refer only to High Entia - with half-bloods like her being considered "subhuman" by the snobby pure-blood maniacs - even though the original Homs meaning encompassed all species smart enough to communicate with. It was hard for her to see it as anything but an elitist term.

"Oh man." Shulk managed to sit back up and take a deep breath, but he wasn't completely settled down. "That was just perfect. Anyone else, it wouldn't be nearly as funny, they can't hold a straight face like you can, and you didn't even flinch. Woo." He held one hand on his stomatch as he calmed down. "...What were we talking about?"

Melia saw the opportunity to redirect the conversation back to something she felt was glossed over. "You were attempting to think of an interesting story from your past."

"...really? Well that's kinda familiar, so I guess." He thought for a moment. "Wait, no, I already figured there weren't any."

"And I said you were wrong. Try again." Melia sat back, indicating she had no intent of dropping the subject. She'd done enough talking about herself and her culture for now. It was Shulk's turn.

Shulk didn't expect such a response. He clearly didn't know how to answer it, his eyes darting around in all directions trying to figure something out.

After an agonizing minute and a half, he finally had a tenuous thought. "...uhhm, well...maybe...there was this one time where Reyn beat me at chess."

Melia couldn't contain her reaction. "What?! How is that possible? Shulk, that's _absolutely_ an interesting story! Do continue."

"Well, uh..." Shulk paused for a moment. "We were like eleven or twelve-ish. I'd been kind of messing around with the game for a few months, I knew all the moves and a few openings. But Dickson was the only one who would play me, and he was way too good for me, so he'd start the game without his rooks or something and still win, it wasn't much fun. But then one day Reyn asked to play, best two of three. I was pretty confused because I had no idea he cared about the game, but I figured it'd be an easy win so I went for it."

"Game one was pretty easy, Reyn did all the predictable stuff and didn't look to have much of a plan. But then he started game two with some funny moves that didn't make any sense. I just went on playing my opening, but then once I ran out of book moves I found that he'd set up a pretty good trap for them. So it took a while but he won game two. I realized that book openings only work if the opponent is playing along with them, so I decided to open game three with just general principles instead. But then I found out that once I had things started, I didn't really know what the next part of the plan was, because I didn't really have a plan to begin with. Meanwhile Reyn was just doing things, with no obvious plan but no clear weaknesses either. In the end it was...I think a fork that I totally missed. He got me good and I felt like a dope."

"He tried not to brag about it, but of course it wasn't long before everyone knew. Now I know it's really just because I was too focused on openings and never practiced any middlegame situations, but I felt terrible about it because chess was the "smart guy" game, and losing to Reyn was just...ugh."

Melia realized she was leaning pretty far forward, so she made an exaggerated nod to conceal her moving back to a neutral position. "Of course. I have little experience with chess beyond the basics, but I do know it can be surprisingly tricky to challenge an opponent who does not know what they are doing."

Shulk thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, but...I wouldn't be too surprised if Reyn _did_ know what he was doing. There's no way he would ask me to play him without a plan of some sort. Even if it was just "do weird stuff"." He had an idea. "Say, maybe we could play sometime. I think we'd be pretty even."

"...Perhaps." Melia considered telling him that she didn't have much interest in the game because of how much time had to be invested into it, but then again she knew that Homs chess was played with simpler pieces on a board only eight spaces square, so it probably wouldn't be as bad.

The waiter finally reappeared, with one large platter in each hand. "Your meals, sir and madam." He placed the trays down on the table.

"Thank you." Melia confirmed that she did indeed get what she'd asked for before nodding, sending the waiter on his way.

"Woah." Shulk looked over his large plate of uniformly-cooked Occipital Haddock and perfectly-sliced Airy Potatoes, with containers of vinegar and ketchup alongside. "There's a _lot_ here."

"Restaurants tend to err on the side of more rather than less," Melia explained, taking her first stab of farfalle. "It is better to throw out some leftovers than to leave a patron still hungry."

"I guess that makes sense." Shulk reached for the saltshaker on the table, sprinkled his meal, and started into the fish.

There was silence for a bit while the two ate. Neither expected the other to comment on the food - Melia knew Shulk would just say it was good regardless of anything, while Shulk figured Melia would only voice her opinion if it was negative. But it still felt wrong for there to be no such discussion whatsoever.

Shulk was the first to ask. "So how is yours?"

Melia took time in finishing her mouthful. "Of the stellar quality I would expect from an establishment of this kind." _I'm probably supposed to match the question._ "I presume you agree?"

"Well, I mean...I don't see anything wrong with it, but I don't have a lot of other high-end dinners to compare it to."

Something occurred to Melia. "So what prompted you to select this restaurant?"

Shulk shrugged. "It was the first one I saw on the map that I could tell was seafood by the name, pretty much."

"Why were you looking for seafood in particular?"

"Because duh? It's your favourite, right?"

Melia opened her mouth in response to the first sentence but quickly closed it again to think about the second. "How did you know?"

Shulk almost slouched a bit as he tilted his head in what looked a lot like slight irritation. "Come on, Melia, even _I_ was paying attention a few nights ago when you made us salmon for dinner. It was the most excited you'd been so far for any of your own cooking. You couldn't have made it more obvious."

Melia didn't have an answer to that; she simply turned her reddenning face down into her food. Having personal information spilled from another source such as the newspaper was bad enough - it felt absolutely awful to to know she herself had been so unknowingly transparent on a subject that even Shulk could see it.

 _I can't believe I could have been so careless. How much else have I revealed simply by enjoying the company of my friends?_

"Melia, what's wrong?" Shulk leaned down to try and glimpse her face. "Why would you not want us to know what food you like?"

"It's not that," Melia mumbled. She had come to a realization, and without thinking about it, started to elaborate upon it.

"Ladies of the imperial family have their identities hidden from the public from birth to marriage. It is one of the oldest traditions with one of the strongest and most sensible reasons: so no suitor can court a princess or empress solely for her physical apperance. As a useful secondary effect, it allows one to wander amongst the public with anonymity, a power I have come to enjoy over the years. It greatly pleased me to be capable of posing as a citizen with an invented backstory and no obligations, in contrast to the royal face I have to uphold at all other times. But when I first met you and your friends, the line was blurred. Partly out of necessity and partly due to my own fatigued errors, it quickly became impossible to deny the truth, making you the first outside the palace to know of my dual nature. It raised a continual struggle that I believe I have only now fully grasped - I am desperate to control exactly what you know of me. My likes and dislikes, my opinions, my experiences. I find it unpleasant to discover any tidbit you uncover outside my efforts, undermining my attempts to craft this...third persona of mine, the one presented to only our group of friends."

She'd said too much. She'd said far, far too much. Once it got going, the train of thought charged forward without a hope of reeling it in. She had no idea what Shulk's reaction would be, but it was probably going to be negative.

Instead, Shulk just looked mystified. "Why would you bother trying to keep a third persona just for us? What's wrong with just...being yourself?"

Melia looked off to the side and stared into the distance for a few moments. Why indeed? Why did she feel obligated to keep herself stilted, controlled, and reclusive in the presence of the only true friends she'd ever had? She recalled one time Shulk had brought up this same issue before: she had mentioned that the rest of the party was at ease with each other, whereas she still felt like she didn't fit in. What did she say then? That perhaps one day she might do something "crazy"? Well, participating in the social game and being bold enough to ask for this date certainly qualified. But even then, she almost immediately lapsed back into worrying about what was proper or what others thought. Even as Meyneth allowed her the freedom to "be herself" during this evening, she felt that she wasn't really doing anything with it. And it was arguably not even out of choice - it was just what came naturally.

"I feel...I have never truly known what it means to "be yourself"."

Shulk nodded slowly and went back to his food, apparently not interested in continuing the subject.

Melia did the same, glad that the matter appeared closed at least for now. She hoped and expected Shulk would soon be finding something more uplifting to talk about. Then again, it was Shulk who had been driving most the conversation already. Maybe she should be the one to bring up the next topic.

 _Hm, there's an idea._ "Shulk, tell me about Dickson."

Shulk appeared confused for a moment, but then mentally shrugged and began. "He's pretty much the reason I'm here. Not just because he saved me and brought me to Colony 9, but because of everything else he's done for me and the whole colony. His weapon's not much but he's a great tactitian, so he's won us a lot of battles against the Mechon, or at least minimized the damage and saved as many as he could. And of course he's been pretty much everywhere, so there's no better person to ask about dangerous paths or secret routes across the Bionis, aside from maybe an old mapmaker Nopon."

Melia brought up Dickson's image in her mind. "How old is he? Perhaps it is simply because I have little experience in judging Homs ages, but his appearance and his reported feats do not match to me."

"What do you mean?"

"It is quite a feat to be an expert on all regions of the Bionis at such a young age, yet he also appears many years older than his physical condition would indicate. I'm frankly baffled."

"Well, he's..." Shulk did some numbers in his head. "Forty-something? Four or five I think. He is pretty good at staying fit, that's for sure, Dunban would always say he's one of the few that could challenge him at endurance runs. He calls Dunban a "beast", but he's not much different himself. He's just more...subtle about it." Something occurred to him. "Wait, is this about you still not trusting him?"

"I...suppose." Melia didn't recall mentioning it to the party since she had first met Dickson at Sword Valley, but she wasn't surprised that Shulk remembered. "He...irks me."

Shulk nodded thoughtfully. "You do seem real on-edge whenever he's around. But it's just a bad feeling, right?"

"Correct. While Riki shares my impression that something is amiss about him, I have no presentable evidence." It was a little sugar-coated - Dickson's unnatural, ominous aura was much more than just "something amiss" - but this was not the time to raise any major issues about it.

"I do kinda get what you mean." Shulk was staring off the to the side a bit, remembering something. "There's actually an in-joke around the Defence Force that it's bad news for Dickson to show up. It's nothing to do with him of course, it's more like you don't need him until the situation's already real bad. But a lot of people have a mixed opinion with it. Kinda like...like you can't tell whether someone's predicting a disaster, or causing it." Shrug. "He's still probably the first person everyone would want to go to war with. I mean, not counting whoever has the Monado, that's kind of cheating."

Melia figured that was enough Dickson talk for now - if Colony 9's forces at large were okay with him, that was enough reassurance for a few days. Now she just had to hope she wouldn't be seeing him for a while and have his dominating presence flood her senses back to dread.

Shulk didn't miss his chance to turn things back the other way. "Melia, tell me about Kallian."

Melia couldn't say she was surprised by the request, but she still wasn't prepared for it, and took a moment to figure out a response. "What is there to say? He is knowledgeable on all subjects yet with a keen instinct, he shows compassion when possible but no mercy when necessary, he fights with a fervour unmatched by any knight. He is easily the most uncontestable heir to the throne in many centuries."

Shulk seemed to raise his eyebrows for a split second, but it was gone in an instant. "Okay, so that's Kallian the prince, what about Kallian the person?"

"They are one and the same. Unlike myself, he was raised to show his true colours at all times. There is no order of secrecy for a pure-blooded son."

"...Man, he must be pretty boring then."

Melia paused for a moment to process a response to the statement, but it came out before she was ready. "What?"

Shulk kind of half-shrugged and tilted his head a bit, looking down into the fish he was cutting. "If he's that perfect at everything, he's got to be boring."

"Erm..." _Shulk has a point; characters without flaws are often dull. What can I say to dispel-_

"But he obviously _isn't_ perfect, since otherwise the Emperor wouldn't have picked _you_ to be next."

Melia almost dropped her fork. She had momentarily forgotten that Kallian was not the selected heir, and had been speaking as if he were. Even after everything that had happened since the announcement otherwise, it was so easy and comfortable a mindset to relapse into.

"So what is it then?" Shulk unconsciously leaned in a bit. "What do you have that Kallian doesn't? What's so much more important that what he does have?"

"I wish I knew." Melia didn't intend to launch into another tirade, but it began almost automatically. "We have both spent our entire lives with full understanding of who the prime choice was. Even without the virtue of his head start, Brother's skills at diplomacy, ability to read people, and overall popularity are far beyond mine, all of which are arguably the most important facets of being the leader of a society. The ancestral simulation within the Tomb did nothing to explain the choice, instead choosing to wax poetic to itself about my half-blooded nature, which is indisputably a net detriment in all ways. Even when I voiced my concerns on this exact issue to Father, he simply brushed them off as...as _misinformed_ , as the _mistaken ramblings_ of someone who has never wished to take the throne."

Shulk had an idea. "Kallian probably couldn't use the Imperial Staff like you."

"And what of that? Father's choice of weapon is the ether wand, yet he still took the staff to Prison Island as necessary. The Imperial Staff is a ceremonial tool more than a weapon. An emperor's ability to wield it in battle is immaterial, and in fact has not been exercised in eons."

"Okay, so..." Shulk kept looking for something else; he didn't want to stop until he found something. "...did Kallian ever have to fight the mafia? Or not get assassinated?"

"Of course not," Melia said a bit too sharply. "There is no reason to kill a young pure-blooded prince, and his later skills with the rapier made it foolish for anyone to consider challenging him."

"Well there it is then," Shulk suggested. "Kallian's used to being the golden boy, the one everyone loves. So if he does something wrong, and people start to get upset with him, we don't really know how he'll react. You know what it's like to be hated. You can handle it."

Melia opened her mouth to argue, but decided to fill it with a shrimp instead. It was a surprisingly good point. Not good enough a point by itself to explain the entire decision, but still a reasonable factor.

"Eughxf." Shulk poked the remainder of his fish. "Do they serve dessert here? If they do I should probably stop so I don't miss it."

"I believe we would have needed to order it initially, so no." Melia normally didn't mind the absence of dessert - it would lose its appeal to have it at every single dinner. But she realized that this was certainly one occasion where it would have been a good idea.

"Okay then. I think I can finish..." After an uncomfortable pause, he straightened up to release a deep belch that his cola had clearly been fueling for a while. "Drat, I'm sorry, I tried to keep it down but it didn't work."

Melia had lived through enough of Reyn and Riki burping that it didn't really bother her anymore. "I don't blame you; it is a natural consequence."

"Yeah...at least it freed up some room, I feel better about this fish now. How do _you_ not do it though?"

"Honestly, I don't know. I suppose some individuals simply retain gas better than others."

Shulk let out another burp, though this one was silent and much smaller. "Man, you're unfair. Uh, I mean, um, I mean that in a good way. Like, in a you-got-lucky-at-genetics way."

Melia held back a dismissive scoff. "Lucky? Hardly. Perhaps I have inherited many beneficial traits from both my parents' races, but may I remind you there is one in particular that is most important of all."

"What, your wings? You mean some half-bloods can have large wings?"

"Indeed. It is more common for Homs mothers to produce small-winged children, and vice versa for High Entia mothers."

"So..." Shulk looked around, but couldn't really see anyone in the darkness outside the table. "So there's more half-blooded people walking around than it looks like?"

Melia nodded. "Correct. Many of them try to hide their true natures to avoid the shame and disrespect that most half-bloods experience. It is not too rare to find a half-blood who has inherited exclusively High Entia traits, and so is effectively indistinguishable from a pure-blood."

"Huh. Weird. I don't know anything about genetics, so I don't really know what I expected, but...I guess something simple, like all half-bloods have small wings, and that's how you know." He turned his fork around in his hand a few times. "I still say you're lucky. None of this would have happened if you were any different."

"That is true. No matter how much I mope about my nature and past, there is little I would change about the current state of the world they have weaved."

"Yeah..." Shulk considered talking about specific things he'd want to change, but the first few that came to mind were all death-related and he didn't feel like going into that kind of thing right now would be a good idea. "There's a lot of stuff I want to go back and fix. But that would just mess up the present, and I like how things are right now - not perfect, but pretty good."

Melia felt it was the right time to steer the conversation back to something more lighthearted, but couldn't think of anything, so she instead just sat in silence.

Luckily, it didn't take long for Shulk to have the same idea. "So what's winter like up here in Alcamoth? I'm guessing it doesn't get as cold as Colony 9."

"You are correct, but not by much; the difference is only a few degrees. Our plants and animals are equally likely to retreat into hiding during the winter months."

"Hm okay. I figured it'd be more like summer year-round since you're closer to the sun. But then I actually think about it for more than a second and realize the sun's way too far away for that to make a big difference. So I guess you've seen even less snow than we have."

Melia had to think about it. "Not too long ago we had a cold winter where a messy slush was more common than rain. But I can't remember it ever snowing."

"Yeah, I think it's only snowed in Colony 9..." Shulk unconsciously tipped his head upwards to think. "...six times? Maybe seven or eight. And only one of those times was the ground kind of white when we woke up. It was fun to mess with for an hour or two before it melted. That was...uh, I was eleven, so seven years ago."

"That would match the year I'm thinking of." Melia thought about what she was doing at the time - progressing through learning Reflection. It felt weird to consider that she was well on her way to mastering the ether staff while Shulk wasn't near old enough to hold a sword. It was even weirder to realize that when she first picked up a staff, he wasn't even born yet. "When is your birthday?"

Shulk was going to answer but had was he thought was a better idea. "Why don't you guess?"

"Alright." Melia didn't take long to come up with a guess. "August 6th."

"Hey, pretty close. It's actually August 19th." Shulk grew suspicious. "You had help, didn't you?"

There was no reason to hide it. "I did. Sharla had already told me your astrological sign."

"Right, yeah, she would know. We all shared our birthdays with her before we reached Makna Forest, because she was talking astrology one night and was interested in how our signs fit together as a team. Then I guess because we'd did it once, we forgot to do it again once we met you and Riki. Do you care about astrology?"

"I do have a passing interest in it." It was understated but overall true; she would never make any serious decisions based on the stars, but she felt oddly drawn to the idea that peoples' birth months had an overarching effect on their grander personality.

"Thought so. Okay it's my turn."

Melia watched as Shulk thought for several moments, coming up with his guess for her birthday. It was clear he was going through a rather involved thought process, rather than just making a stab in the dark. _He might be trying to match my perceived personality to his understanding of the zodiac. Or perhaps he's trying to remember a hint he read in the newspaper._ She continued to finish the remainder of her food; normally she would have had trouble completing the meal, but maybe her elevated stress levels from earlier left her hungrier than usual.

After what had to have been several minutes, he had his answer. "February 18th."

Melia's eyes widened. "That's...you're only four days early. How...?"

Shulk chuckled. "Exactly halfway around the year. Well, as exact as you can get, since it's an odd number."

"...I see." _That's a strange way to select a guess...especially considering he was just talking about astrology. He must lack knowledge on it, and is unaware that under its tenants, he suggested that we have maximum mutual romantic compatibility. Which is clearly untrue.  
_

"Oof." Shulk placed his utensils onto his empty plate. "I'm totally stuffed. I don't think I've eaten this much in one sitting since...I don't even know. So what do we do now?"

"We wait for the waiter to take the dishes away." Melia tipped the last of her drink into her mouth, just so she wouldn't have to make her straw gurgle, before stacking her dishes together for easy collection.

Shulk carefully followed Melia's lead, trying not to clatter anything.

It only took about thirty seconds for the waiter to show up. He didn't say anything as he took the dishes away.

"So...is tipping a thing you do in Alcamoth?" asked Shulk.

It took Melia a bit to figure out what he meant. "No, gratuities are considered insulting in our culture."

"Really? Insulting? Well I'm glad we don't have to, but I didn't think it'd be taken that far."

"I must admit I don't know exactly why it is considered an insult. Perhaps at one point in history it was equated to bribery."

The waiter reappeared, but he didn't have a bill in hand as expected. Instead, he was holding two small saucers.

"Complements of the chef." He placed the saucers in front of each of them before turning away once more.

Upon each of the saucers sat a cinnamon roll. They were perfectly crafted; the spirals were completely even in curvature and thickness, and the icing was layered in exactly straight lines. They looked like they belonged in an advertisement.

"Uh...darn." Rubbing his belly, Shulk eyed the bun with regret that he'd not left any room for it. "Well, it'd be rude to not have it, right?"

Melia wasn't listening, instead staring at the pastry. How long had it been since her last cinnamon roll? It was difficult to measure whether it was her preferred treat over fudge, but unlike fudge the royal chefs rarely ever served them because the rest of the family had other preferences. Furthermore, she would never have them when out as a citizen, because she knew her unusual way of eating them - that is, not unrolling them with her fingers - would make her stand out from the crowd. As a result, every one she did have was special on some level, and she kind of liked it that way.

Shulk reached for his roll but reconsidered. "Uhh...right, fingers, not supposed to use those." After a bit of thinking and realizing that no utensils were provided, he grabbed a napkin and used it to pick up the bun. "This is right, right?"

"It's how I do it." Melia took a napkin and did the same, investigating the pastry close-up to find the best place to begin.

"Good." Shulk found the edge of the spiral and bit a strip off.

Melia had two choices. She could go about eating the roll her way, and probably get a lot of funny looks from Shulk about it. Or she could do it his way, and probably get funny looks for making inexperienced mistakes with it. But wasn't Shulk immensely amused by her error with the cola straw?

 _Might as well try._ It took some uncomfortable effort, but she got the outer edge unlatched and took a bite. And another one, because the first one didn't get a clean break. And then a third because one part still got squished rather than split.

Shulk suppressed a laugh so he could swallow. "I thought you said this is how you do it." He was clearly teasing rather than confused.

"It has been a very long time since my last cinnamon roll." It was the truth, though not exactly the reason as to why she had trouble with the unrolling.

"That's what I thought." Shulk carried on.

The rolls were too tasty for much conversation to interrupt them. By the time either of them felt like saying anything else, the saucers and napkins were empty.

"Wow that was good." Shulk crumpled up his napkin and placed it on the saucer. "Why did they gave us free dessert?"

Melia shrugged. "It could be any number of reasons. I suspect customer retention is chief among them. Though now that I think on it more, it's likely you're the first Homs to ever set foot in here, and the staff decided to acknowledge it."

"Hm that's an interesting idea. Since you said they only recently became...uh, less discriminating, or however you worded it."

The waiter reappeared, as if he immediately knew when the plates were empty. "How were your meals, sir and madam?"

Melia answered first to give Shulk a chance to think. "Exquisite as expected."

Shulk held back a natural indecisive grunt and stumbled to get a word out. "Amazing."

The waiter nodded. "Thank you for your patronage. Have an excellent evening." He replaced the blank saucers on the table with the bill, concealed in a small booklet, and left once more.

"Well, I guess we're done then." Shulk reached for the bill.

Melia shook her head. "You don't need to pay, Shulk."

"Good to know." He opened the booklet to find a grand total of 314G. He couldn't hide his grimace, but showed no hesitation in reaching for his wallet.

"Er, when I said you don't _need_ to pay, I meant-"

"-you meant you don't _want_ me to pay. Because it's expensive and you have infinite money and stuff. But _you_ asked _me_ for this date, and _I_ picked the time and place, so _I'm_ the one paying. That's how it works."

"...If you insist." She didn't think it was worth arguing - if Shulk wants to waste his money, as opposed to using Melia's practically limitless funds, that's on him.

Shulk opened his wallet to start fishing around for banknotes. At least Alcamoth currency was easy enough for anyone; Erythscript numbers were strikingly similar to the ancient numerals used for gem rankings, and each denomination was very distinct. It didn't take long for him to place the correct amount in the booklet and close it back up.

"So do we just leave now?"

"Yes." Melia nodded and stood up. Part of her didn't want to leave, but it was all too easy to supress.

Shulk followed as the two made their way back to the entrance. The host gave them a silent half-nod half-bow as they walked outside.

The streets were much emptier than earlier; there were only about a dozen people visible in either direction. With the moon hidden by clouds, the streetlights cast a yellow glow across the buildings.

As the two walked back towards the transporter, Melia thought about all that had happened this evening. Partly because she had attempted to mentally frame it as such, it didn't really feel like a "date" the way she expected it - aside from the setting, nothing particularily "romantic" happened. It was just like two friends having dinner together. It didn't really feel like she formed any sort of extra connection with Shulk as she had hoped, but deep down she knew it was a long shot to begin with.

Shulk apparently didn't like the silence. "So how was it? Did you have a good time?"

Melia found it surprisingly easy to answer. "It was a unique experience. I don't believe I've ever had such an extended conversation with anyone whom I would consider an equal."

"So you'd do it again?"

"Absolutely."

Shulk smiled, but it disappeared quickly as he looked away. "It'll be hard to wait. What'd you say, at least a year to be stuck in the palace doing royal things? No chance of sneaking out before then?"

"Well, I..." Melia considered the idea. "I suppose I could for a day or two. One night will make no difference to a year-long task. But the risk of being caught would be magnitudes higher than ever before. The texts are quite clear that the smallest deviation from duty-"

"Blah blah blah," Shulk blabbered with his hand. "We'll figure something out. I don't think Kallian could handle not looking the other way for your friends."

Melia wasn't so sure - it wasn't exactly Kallian's decision - but now was not the time to debate it. "I thank you for your optimisim."

"Well _someone_ has to be the optimist between the two of us."

"Are you saying I am a pessimist?"

"...uh, no? You're more of a realist. Which I guess some people would say is the same thing, but...they aren't." Shulk didn't feel right leaving it there, but he couldn't figure out how to continue the thought.

There was a moment of silence as they passed through the transporter back to the Capital District.

Once through, Melia had a thought that Shulk probably deserved some praise for his efforts. "I must say, Shulk, I am quite impressed how well you adapted to the unfamiliar environment. I can only imagine how stressed you must have been throughout the night."

Shulk drooped and released a huge exhale. "You have no idea. Just leaving that high-class zone is a huge weight off, it's not at all like the palace where most people at least recognize us and don't hold us to the top standards. If they didn't have the simple fish and chips I'd have no idea what I could have eaten, the menu was just full of stuff I'd never heard of. And then throw in having a date for the first time on top of all that."

Melia started to nod but stopped. "Date for the first time? You...never had any dates with...with anyone else?" She felt it best not to mention Fiora's name, and hoped Shulk would get the unspoken context.

"Nope. Never really had the opportunity to." Shulk appeared contemplative. "I was too much of a shut-in for any girls to get near me. I guess Fiora was the only one, but we'd known each other forever and had dinner together all the time, so a "proper" date probably wouldn't even have been interesting."

"I see." Melia stoically turned straight ahead. Part of her was even more impressed at how well Shulk had conducted himself for have never been on a date himself before, but another part believed that he only enjoyed the date because of the Fiora attributes he was projecting onto her, using her as a surrogate for some of the things he'd unknowingly always wanted to do with Fiora but never got the chance.

As they approached the Whitewing Palace, they could faintly see that the lights were on in the penthouse.

"Looks like the others are back from their dinner," noted Shulk.

Melia didn't feel comfortable being seen by the others in her current getup, but she didn't have any ideas for how to cordially finish the date before then, so she continued to match Shulk's pace into the hotel and up to the top floor.

Shulk seemed to sense the tension, so he stopped in the hall before the entry to the penthouse became visible and turned back towards Melia. "Well, uh...I don't have any clue how to end this properly, and we'll be back to fighting bad guys together tomorrow, so...um, just, goodnight then." He produced a sheepish half-smile, his hands fidgeting like he didn't know what to do with them.

"Yes, good night." Somehow Melia felt it wasn't enough. "I cannot thank you enough for this...wondrous opportunity."

"Oh, uh, thanks." He didn't have anything to add. "See you tomorrow." With that, he turned out of sight.

Melia stood still for a few moments before shaking herself free and starting towards her chambers. Now that she was back in more familiar territory, the whole evening felt a lot more like a dream.

She started to evaluate the event on the whole. Did it go well? Absolutely, aside from a few minor mishaps that were easily shaken off and arguably added to the experience. Did she enjoy it? Definitely; all the praise about it that she had vocalized to Shulk was true and honest. Did she get what she wanted? There was no way to know; it was difficult to judge whether Shulk's desire to do it again was based on what he thought of her as a person, or just because he liked how it went.

Perhaps she just wasn't paying as much attention to them as earlier, but it didn't seem like the people Melia passed by in the halls gave her any curious looks this time. She reached her room quickly with no interruptions while feeling reasonably pleased overall.

But upon reaching her desk to see Meyneth's chestplate sitting on it, she came to a sudden realization - Shulk had not made a single comment on the chestplate being missing from her person. True, it would have been mostly concealed by her outfit, but at least the choker around her neck should have been clearly absent. Did he notice but ignore it, or did he not care enough to speak up about it? Or was he truly clueless enough to have not noticed it was missing at all? After all, the object was pretty much the only reason he'd been so close to her over the last few weeks. For him to not notice it was missing during the closest they'd ever been - she had no idea what to make of it.

 _Great. Now my mood is soured. I couldn't bask in the illusion of success for even an hour afterward._

Mostly upset and frustrated with herself for ruining the moment, Melia decided she might as well go straight to bed. After all, the last time the chestplate was initially attached to her, she ended up unconscious for a while - it would be a good sleep aid, and she needed some good sleep for tomorrow.

With disappointment, she undid herself, listlessly tossing her clothes down the laundry chute and her jewelry onto the desk. Once prepared for bed, she took the chestplate and laid down, running her fingers over the metallic surface.

 _I can't imagine you had a good evening, Meyneth. And while I thought I did, I can't help but question myself. Let us hope tomorrow brings some actual joy._

Prepared for pain, Melia placed the chestplate where it belonged and closed her eyes. As expected, she felt the device penetrate her neck, and then entered nothingness.

* * *

 _The red sun hung overhead as it always did, at perhaps half its biggest size._

 _Melia could hear Meyneth mumbling to herself again. It was quieter than the last time she had found herself accidentally eavesdropping, so it was harder to pick out many words at all. But it seemed that about half of the sentences were repeats of things she had already heard in the past. Yes, definitely repeats; that last sentence about Fiora's memories was said with the exact same timing and intonation as when she heard it the first time. It was a bit creepy and also somewhat disappointing, to not hear anything new that could be helpful against Egil in the morning._

 _After a bit, another clear repeat became audible. It was the message Meyneth had said Fiora wanted to pass to Shulk. Melia recalled that she was then suddenly awoken, so she missed most of it. But by pure dumb luck, she was getting another chance, and so listened intently._

 _"You're in good hands, Shulk. Don't let me get in the way of...whoever you find next."_

 _Suddenly the dream exploded into a thousand different pieces. It was like looking into a kaleidoscope of scenes and events, with a cacophony of many voices coming out of each window, the few she could understand formed of quotes from the past._

 _Sharla. "The longer he's away, the more chance his feelings for you will fade."_

 _Her mother. "You don't have to marry if you don't want to. You're lucky."_

 _Shulk. "_ _Y'know, Melia, you kind of remind me of her."_

 _Yumea. "Children like you are not married for any reason but prestige."_

 _Reyn. "Important?! She's more than important! She's the reason we're out here!"_

 _Kallian. "I find it inconceivable that the forefathers would have no provision for the two-consort system with a half-blooded ruler. We will find it."_

 _Shulk again. "You look absolutely mellifluous."_

 _Meyneth. "...whoever you find next."_

 _The other voice that came out of Face Nemesis, presumably Fiora's, emitting no words but a lengthy giggle. The world seemed to dim as the giggle continued.  
_

 _Before it all faded to black, there was a flash of red light, and the scene changed again. It appeared to be outside during the day, presumably at high altitude, as neither titan was immediately visible. What was immediately visible was Yaldabaoth, its head missing with Egil sitting in the centre. Shulk was perched on the Mechon near him. Everything appeared oddly monochromatic, with a red tint washed over and blurred peripheral vision._

 _Melia felt a strange sort of compulsion hanging over her body, as if her actions were scripted and she had to follow some hidden directions to the letter. Yet it still felt completely natural for her to turn and see Vanea behind, with Dickson hanging around as well._

 _She realized that Shulk had been talking for a bit, and she missed most of it before starting to pay attention._

 _"...peace again."_

 _Egil answered. "Again? I see. Yes, you're right." He started to get up._

 _There was a gunshot. Shulk spasmed and clutched his chest._

 _Melia immediately turned around to see Dickson, his weapon raised and smoking._

 _"You shouldn't have done that, little brat."_

 _The scene stuttered, freezing in time for a split second several times, progressing at inconsistent speed between each one. One stutter even caused time to be reversed for a moment. It was as if something was attempting to interrupt a recorded video._

 _After several stutters, the interruption succeeded. T_ _ _he red tint over Melia's vision shattered and fell to the floor as if a pair of glasses had been destroyed, bringing full colour to the world and casting the unnatural feeling of compulsion off her. There was no more feeling of trying to follow a script - just the scene and her own instincts.  
__

 _Ignoring everything else around her, Melia sprinted towards Dickson. She could blast him in the head with a bolt, but that would probably just kill him instantly, and that was no good. First he had to suffer._

 _Dickson appeared moderately surprised, but overall calm as he reloaded his Sabre and pointed it at his approaching opponent._

 _Melia grasped the Imperial Staff tightly as she leapt towards him. She couldn't wait to see fresh scars on the traitor's face._

 _There was another gunshot._

It wasn't a gunshot. It was the sound of Melia delivering a punch at maximum power into her solid ebony bedpost.

" _Ffffffffffffffffffff-_ " She clutched her hand in agony and scrunched up her whole face, rapidly battering her legs on the mattress. It wasn't a swear trying to come out, but rather her best attempt at restraining a full-lung screech. She'd been injured far worse before with less reaction, but waking up to it in the dark made the pain especially sharp.

It took several minutes to recover enough from the incident to take her staff with the healthy hand and summon an aqua. The pain immediately began dulling much faster.

By the time she could operate her fingers again, she remembered what had caused the lash-out in the first place - a dream where Dickson shot Shulk.

 _Ugh. I'm going to be thinking about that every time I see him now. I may not trust him, but even I find it unfathomable to think he would do such a thing. That's not what I need._

Melia sat for a few minutes recalling the nature of the dream. It felt a lot different than her normal dreams, especially the colourless haze that hung over most of the scene, and the strange way that she suddenly gained control after it stuttered and shattered. Was it really a dream, or something that came from Meyneth? It obviously couldn't be a memory.

Could it have been a vision of the future, like Shulk's? No, of course not. Only two people in the universe could have visions - Alvis and Shulk - and in both cases the Monado was the source. Meyneth had no such connection to the Monado. Still, it was eerily similar to how Shulk described his visions - a flash of light followed by a scene playing out in a monochrome mist. It seemed a little too spot-on for it to just be another figment of a dream.

 _Stop thinking about it, or it'll become more difficult to forget._

Melia lobbed her staff back where it belonged and dove back under the covers. The faster she could get back to sleep, and hopefully have another dream take over her short-term memory, the better.


	10. Palpitation

With assent that everyone was ready, Melia tapped a button on the touchscreen of her ship and stepped off.

Five seconds later, the vessel took off and dove beneath Agniratha, tracing a series of Erythscript "j"s through the sky as it returned to its hangar in Alcamoth. Within minutes, the allied force would begin its assault on Mechonis.

"The Second Battle of Sword Valley," Dunban mused. "We never thought there would be another, much less one without the Monado."

Shulk nodded. "It's too bad that the Machina couldn't figure out how to replicate it in time, but we couldn't wait much longer."

"Let's get going then," Reyn said. "Give Egil his chance, or give him the beatdown."

The party approached the Shrine Transporter, its opposite end faintly visible in the distance. There was a sense of confidence among them - that no matter what was about to happen, it would be a big step towards bringing peace to the world.

The feeling was interrupted pretty quickly.

"Look out!" Shulk grabbed the Monado and deflected an energy shot from above.

Jade Face appeared from overhead and landed in front of the transporter. The message was clear - they'd have to fight him to get through.

"It's him! Gadolt!" Sharla was the only one to not draw her weapon as the battle lines were drawn.

Gadolt didn't step out of the cockpit this time. "You are too skilled with the Monado. You cannot be permitted to live."

Sharla continued to step in front of the others. "Gadolt, stop! Why are you fighting us?! Remember who you are!"

Reyn pulled her back. "Get off it! We don't have time for this. If this guy don't feel like playing nice, too bad."

The fight began. It wasn't clear at first, but it didn't really seem like Gadolt was trying all that hard - he was keeping up his defences, but wasn't launching many attacks, and those he did fire were often glancing blows that were easily healed up. It felt like something was amiss.

Riki was the first to vocalize the feeling. "Something not right, Riki feels. Big green Mechon easy-peasy to swooshdodge."

"Now that you mention it, I agree," Dunban replied. "He's fighting us to a stalemate."

"That's because he's still in there somewhere!" Sharla continued to fire healing rounds into the others, making no attacks of her own.

"Absurd!" Gadolt continued to fire back. "There is no previous to my being. It is perfect in body and mind, as Egil intended, so his will may be done."

Reyn looked around and noticed something. "Oh yeah? Explain all those marks on the floor around Sharla then, you're makin' a big show of it but haven't landed a scratch on 'er! Ain't you supposed to be a crack shot? Or did that pile of junk you call a body mess up your aim?"

"Shut your mouth!"

Gadolt fired an array of beams. Yet even though they hit their targets square in the chest, they didn't really hurt all that much, and it was obvious once the smoke cleared that Sharla was again completely unscathed.

"You're right, Reyn!" Shulk was the first to get back to this feet. "He's missing Sharla on purpose!"

"Then we ain't got nothin' to worry about!" Reyn wiped off some sweat and charged back in.

As the others fought, Melia remained mostly idle, allowing her elementals to boost them while keeping herself from being seen as a threat. She didn't actively participate much in the battles against the Mechon on Mechonis; she was still using the Imperial Staff after all, as opposed to an anti-Mechon weapon like the others, and she was far more useful as a support asset in general than an attacker. Aside from judicious burst arts and well-placed Starlight Kicks, she left the heavy lifting to everyone else.

But with the realization that Gadolt wasn't putting his all into the fight, she felt an odd sensation start to emenate from Meyneth's chestplate. It seemed like a strange combination of hunger and bloodlust - a stark departure from the melancholy sadness from last time they had fought Jade Face.

 _What am I supposed to do with this feeling?_ Melia tried to shut off the battle ambience to listen deeper. _Clearly Meyneth wishes me to change my strategy to be more offensive, but to what end? What is her true objective?_

The strange hunger slowly grew. It didn't take too long to recognize what it wanted: ether, and lots of it. The bloodlust was probably a hint towards what Meyneth planned to do with it: some sort of large-scale attack. It felt a bit odd for Meyneth to look towards offence rather than defence, but she surely had a reason - perhaps she had spotted a weakness that couldn't be communicated to the others without allowing the enemy to protect it. Melia's own Spear Break was similar - no one else was able to follow up on it - so it was certainly a possibility.

 _If ether is all that you need, that shall be no trouble._ Already not far from a burst aura, Melia fired off some elementals to get over the hump. Each one only made the hunger and bloodlust stronger, which while contrary to her expectations wasn't surprising enough to feel like changing her mind. She continued to shoot.

Dunban was the first to notice that Melia was making it harder for him and Reyn to keep Gadolt's attention. "Melia, do not overstep your role!"

Melia didn't really hear the advice. She'd already discharged more than enough elementals for her burst aura to reach critical mass, but it still merely hovered on the brink, and could feel its energy being drained as she left it alone. It was already hard enough for her to resist firing the last elemental every time the empowering aura was close to completion, so when combined with the ever-strengthening desire that Meyneth had, trying to cross the finish line became outright addicting.

"Melly quiet down! Too much aggro!" Riki joined in the fight to try and keep the enemy distracted, hopping on its head and smacking it repeatedly, but the giant Mechon continued to turn towards what he had now decided was his primary threat.

Melia was now panting heavily, fanning her staff back and forth like a tennis player vollying at the net, firing bolts with every swing. She felt _so close, why wasn't it working, it has to be any moment now-_

Gadolt backhanded her. She hadn't been paying a speck of attention to where he was, just what direction she had to shoot in, so she had no idea he had simply walked up into melee range and smacked her body across the way. Satisfied for now, he went back to face the other five, blocking them off from her.

Stunned out of her mindless attacking, Melia shook her head and looked over herself. She had been launched a fair distance away and slid at least thirty metres across the hard metal ground. Her whole right side was in considerable pain from the huge metal hand, something felt wrong with her right wrist and lung, and her left wing was absolutely screaming from presumably having landed on it and bending it funny. It would take more than a blunt smack and tumble to damage her top-quality High Entia clothing, but even if she wasn't bleeding on the outside she likely was on the inside. She had a headache composed of both throbbing and slithering, but it was just discomfort, not a concussion. Overall, not that great, but she would probably be fine once Sharla finished cooling off her rifle and could get a clean shot.

But once she was done with the self-evaluation, the emotion returned in full force. The hunger for ether and the enrapturing burst aura. The bloodlust the goddess demanded. The indignance and disrespect of being tossed away so easily by an unarmed strike.

The unbridled hatred of all Egil had done.

Melia wasn't aware that she had stood up, and it was apparently a fairly bad idea, since her right knee didn't want to support any weight. But she had done it anyway and was now focusing all her rage upon Jade Face.

With the help of the strong emotion, it only took one more bolt to push her over the edge, unleashing the polychromatic burst aura all over her body, dulling the pain but not masking it completely. She could feel the chestplate drawing in more and more of the self-sustaining energy field, emitting a strong red glow as it charged up.

Gadolt looked to see what had attacked him from behind, but appeared to decide it wasn't worth his time and turned back towards the five he was keeping occupied.

Sharla had finished cooling down her rifle and had found a line of sight around the huge Mechon, preparing to give Melia a much-needed dose of healing.

Melia used Reflection, deflecting the healing round back where it came from. She didn't know why she did it, and didn't even remember attempting to use the art. But she somehow knew it had to be done - she had to be hot, angry, and adrenalized for whatever was about to happen, and being healed would put a damper on all that.

She could see the edges of her vision turning red and blurry, hopefully from the chestplate and not from blood.

" _YOU HAVE CROSSED ME FOR THE FINAL TIME!_ "

Melia thrust out her chest to release a huge blast of red energy. Four waves of brilliant crimson streamers snaked through the air towards the enemy.

Gadolt turned when he heard the one-liner, so the attack didn't strike from behind, but it didn't matter. The red energy blasted Jade Face with enough power to knock loose several smaller components as he fell to one knee, clearly with no intent to continue fighting.

Having generated and lost so much ether in such a short time, far more than a typical burst aura or burst art, Melia felt quite lightheaded. She attempted to stand normally but forgot about her weak knee and collapsed, hyperextending her elbow trying to break her fall.

There was a small explosion, knocking Gadolt and a few loose parts out of Jade Face.

"Gadolt!" Sharla immediately ran up to him, with Reyn and Dunban following.

"Melia!" Shulk decided to dash towards Melia instead, with Riki giving chase.

Relieved, Melia rested her head back on the ground and closed her eyes. Whatever Meyneth had done brought the battle to a swift end. Now they could heal and rest, and within ten minutes or so they would be ready for Egil once more.

Of course, with nothing else to occupy her mind, the pain from her injuries jumped to the forefront. She managed to lift an aqua above her head before it became too much, clutching her right side and beginning to rock back and forth in agony. It had been quite a while since she'd been hurt this bad.

"I'm here!" From the sound of it, Shulk had skidded to a clumsy stop and was bending down.

Melia expected Shulk to give her a Light Heal while waiting for Riki to catch up and supply more substantial aid. In an attempt to straighten herself out for more optimal healing, she pulled her left hand off her right side.

She never would have expected Shulk to grab the hand and squeeze it between his.

Shocked by the turn of events, Melia's tear-blurred eyes flew open to see Shulk's face staring directly into hers. Its focus gone, her aqua dropped from the air and splashed into an inert puddle on the ground.

"It's okay, Melia, I'm here. Riki's just a few seconds away, he'll heal you. Don't move anything, just stay put. I've got you."

Melia had no response. No one had ever clutched her hand like this before, as if she was dying and had to be anchored to avoid slipping away. It was honestly terrifying. She hadn't been hurt _that_ bad...had she?

Riki's panting approached. "Melly stay still, Heropon fix you up."

The cool breeze of You Can Do It flowed by, its healing ether working its way into Melia's body. It couldn't reverse all of the damage at once, and another dose would be needed, but most of the pain faded.

Melia attempted to remove her hand from Shulk's grasp so she could get a handle on how well she had recovered so far, but he squeezed it even harder. She wanted him to let go, but how could she do that in a way that didn't make her seem ungrateful for his...moral support? There wasn't much other way to describe it, as unnecessary as it was.

Shulk quickly nodded at Riki but immediately locked onto Melia's eyes again. "Don't do that to us, Melia. We need you. I don't care what Meyneth thinks she's helping with, we need to at least know about it before you go off and make it happen. You're not invincible. We're a team."

Melia took a deep breath, testing her lungs. They felt okay. "I apologize, Shulk. I was under the impression that Meyneth's plan of attack would be spoiled were it to be shared and thus overheard by the enemy, but seeing its ultimate results shows I was in error. And I was mislead into how much effort I had to exert to achieve it."

She attempted to free her hand again so she could at least sit up, but Shulk clutched it tighter than ever.

"I need you to promise me you won't do that again," he said, his stare unwavering. "Don't ever just go off and do your own thing on us while we're trying to fight. Okay?"

"...You have my word." She didn't see any way of getting out of it. Not that it was a poor idea, of course, and she didn't really want to use the massive attack again without further insight from Meyneth as to what it was all about. But it felt like an uncharacteristically overbearing thing for Shulk to demand.

"Okay." Shulk cautiously pulled Melia into a sitting position and finally let go of her hand.

"Melly be ready for second go." Riki used his healing art once more, restoring both Shulk and Melia to full health.

"Thank you, Riki." Melia carefully stood up, testing all her parts. The pain was just a memory now - though it would assuredly be back later.

Riki began hopping back towards the others. "Now come back to other friends."

Shulk nodded and followed. Melia did the same, though a bit laggier, caressing her squeezed hand.

Why was Shulk so oddly fearful for her in the aftermath of the battle? Why did he insist she promise not to act without warning again? Even given his recent tendencies of not wanting to be separated from her in order to protect Meyneth, this was quite a large step up in intensity. She tried to find some intuition or memory that could hold an answer.

 _Of course. It's Fiora. It's_ always _Fiora. I recall Shulk saying she died doing a solo desperation attack on a Face Mechon. Of course he would be so affected to see another friend attempting the same. As much as it irks me, I cannot blame him in the slightest._

As they arrived at the scene of the battle, Dunban and Reyn were standing up, while Sharla was helping Gadolt sit up against the inert Jade Face.

Dunban updated them. "He's going to be fine. He's regained his memories and wants us to move on without him."

"Good to hear." Shulk didn't approach Gadolt too much, but enough to imply that he wanted to listen to anything he had to say.

Gadolt looked between Sharla and Shulk for a moment before speaking to Shulk. "I don't know any secrets of Egil's to help you out. I've stalled you for long enough. Just go and put an end to what he's doing."

"We will."

It felt awkward to simply walk away from the exhausted Gadolt towards the Shrine Transporter, but he waved them off and sat back.

There wasn't anything for the party to discuss amongst themselves. While they were going to let Shulk have his talk with Egil, no one else believed it could change anything. They expected a fight to end the war.

It was almost surreal to see Egil standing before the giant effigy of Meyneth, looking stoic and resolute. A frustrated Vanea faced him, though once she realized they had company, she retreated to the side.

"So you have finally arrived," Egil began. "Heir to the Monado."

Shulk nodded and began his speech. He believed he understood the history of the world and why Egil wanted to fight the Bionis. But how would attacking its people, none of whom had any connection to the ancient battle, accomplish anything aside from simply destroying the peace that both sides wanted?

Egil appeared bemused that Shulk didn't want to fight, but nevertheless explained his views. He was fighting the Bionis by attacking the life it needed to later reawaken. The nature of that life was beneath him - he would do whatever it took to save the Mechonis from any further conflict.

Melia tried hard not to zone out during the exchange. It was quite difficult to pay attention when inundated with Meyneth's feelings - her sadness at the state of the world, disappointment over Egil's actions, and pre-existing knowledge of Egil's rationale.

Eventually, Egil ended the discussion. "Your words are useless. It is only strength that can prevail!"

"Then we will speak with our strength!" Shulk drew his weapon, prompting the others to follow. "Egil, leader of Mechonis! The lives of the Machina and the lives of all that lives on Bionis are one and the same. We won't stop. Not until you realise that!"

As expected, Egil was not foolish enough to fight alone. No sooner had the battle begun than the party found several Mechon approaching from all sides, some of which seemed to have appeared out of thin air. The unexpected part was that Egil fought unarmed, channelling damaging ether through his bare hands. There was a sense that he was toying with them, planning to wear them down before unleashing Yaldabaoth, when the true battle would begin.

It was a protracted fight. Melia and Sharla didn't have any trouble shooting Egil as he hid behind the scores of Mechon, but the other four had to fight off the horde to simply stay alive, much less attack their leader. But while it was a long battle, it never felt like a losing one - as the ups and downs passed by, the Mechon slowly thinned.

Egil grimaced as he took another shot and looked around, seeing that only two Mechon remained. He was running out of energy to quickly summon more. The gang from Bionis was outlasting him.

While his friends took care of the remaining Mechon, Shulk saw his opening and leaped at Egil, embedding the Monado in his shoulder.

"Mmpf." Egil seemed more incredulous than perturbed. "How could this happen even with the Apocrypha?"

"You know, Egil. You know the reason." Shulk wasn't sure whether he knew himself, but it was the first response that came to mind.

"The power of the will to protect your own?" Egil looked across the others. "Is that what you refer to? And what of you, Vanea? You would side with those of Bionis and attack me? You have forfeited your right to exist!"

Vanea's face stiffened. "All of us Machina have had enough of your fighting, brother. We side with those who wish to see it end."

"So the few remaining members of my people have now betrayed me." Egil frowned. "Interesting."

"You speak of betrayal?" Vanea shouted. " _You_ killed Face Nemesis, Meyneth's vessel! _You_ are the traitor!"

There was a twitch in Egil's stoic face. "I disposed of a Faced Mechon that disobeyed my orders. Lady Meyneth would not be such a fool, nor would any Machina she would trust to host her soul. I care not for your lies."

"If you seek proof, look no farther than the poor soul Lady Meyneth was forced to subjugate for her base survival!" Vanea pointed at Melia.

Melia had been hoping for her connection to Meyneth to slip under the radar, but she wasn't surprised it had to be revealed. She took a step forward, indicating that she was not denying it.

Egil scowled, appearing more annoyed than anything. He first lowered his gaze towards Shulk's.

"Your blade...It did not cut deep enough," he hissed.

With that, he pushed both Shulk and his weapon away with one shove. He then addressed Melia. "So...You, a creature from Bionis, claim to host the soul of Lady Meyneth? After her supposed decision to defy me? I must say, I am impressed by the audacity of such a claim. But surely Lady Meyneth would not subject herself to such a miserable existence, were it even possible for the soul of one titan to inhabit a mortal body of another. I seek no proof of your baseless claim, but rather an apology for it!"

Melia felt a memory rising up from Meyneth. While waiting for it to finish playing in her mind, she put a hand on her chin in pretend thought. Once she had seen it all, she spoke.

"On the evening of August 18th, in what you call year 6 B.Z., you were watching the annual meteor shower alongside your family at the Meyneth Shrine. Your great-grandfather, Lxezor, called it the most majestic meteor shower in over fifty thousand years. Your mother, Elirash, believed it was a sign that the next child to be born would be uniquely blessed. And your hidden soulmate, Mephita, wished upon it to herald a fulfilling life together with you."

Egil's stone face was broken; for just a few moments, he was left slack-jawed and close to quivering. But he recomposed himself quickly, appearing angrier than ever before. "You will not fool me with falsified, secondhand retellings of my sister's memories!" The anger faded slightly, replaced with focus. "I see you are High Entia. Of course you would play the role of deceiver. And your impressive skill with ether... The Bionis selected you personally to accompany this group to face me, that much I am certain of. But I am no fool. I know your power. I saw it devour the very loved ones you spoke of. And I will not let it rise again."

The ground rumbled as Yaldabaoth rose from below, coming to land behind Egil. Shulk's group prepared for the next fight.

Egil turned to look up at his creation. "Permit me to apologise for calling you bugs just now. You proved to be a worthy adversary after all, Shulk."

He leaped into the air, landing in the piloting chamber of the huge Mechon, which closed up around him.

"And you, deceiver." The machine's first movement was to point at Melia. "You who would impersonate our goddess to obtain my mercy. Perhaps I shall choose you to be the first to die!"

The party wasted no time throwing their first few attacks at Yaldabaoth. But it was evident that it had been significantly upgraded since their confrontation at Galahad Fortress; its armour felt tougher than ever, barely moving when struck. The first impression was that this battle would take a while.

It quickly became clear that they would not last that long. Egil's first attack was a tail bash that Shulk blocked but still knocked him askew, and a follow-up shot of ether to the chest put him down on the ground with ease. Unperturbed by the attacks coming at him, he systematically targetted one person at a time with an overwhelming assortment of pain until they collapsed. Whenever someone would try to get up, he would refocus his attention on them until they went back down. It was only a few minutes before all six were splayed out across the ground, too beaten to stand.

Melia had been the first to stay down. It felt like if she were to roll over off her front, about half her body parts would be left behind. The pain was so extreme that it almost looped back around to dull, blocking out almost all sound from the massacre. She couldn't even keep her grip on the Imperial Staff, which like all truly matching staffs was normally supernaturally bound to remain in its master's possession. It was when she sensed that no more ether was being churned in the vicinity that she knew it was over.

 _So this is where I die._

 _Meyneth will have to find a new host once again. If Vanea is not nearby enough, the only choice shall be Egil - and that may very well be what ends his madness, to be shown the truth of what he has done in the most certain terms. We saw his honest reaction upon hearing of the story the past, however fleeting - he is not irredeemable when faced with the truth. We failed to stop him, but he can still stop himself._

 _How long has it been since one of the imperial family has been killed on the battlefield? Father was the first to die in true combat in many eons; it can only be even longer than that. His funeral was as grandoise as the occasion was terrible, mourning his passing yet celebrating his grand honour. If it is indeed my death that helps bring peace to both titans, Brother will spare no expense at making my own funeral the most glorious in history. I suspect he will lobby to make it a permanent holiday, that or my birthday. And he will take his rightful place on the throne instead of me...though to be the only member of the family is a horror I would wish on no one._

 _Where shall I reside in the sky? Near the zenith alongside the other great royals felled in battle? Or further down, closer to the top latitude of the zodiac? There's no way I could fall to the inner zodiac, let alone below - to be named crown princess as a half-blood, with Brother to contest me, is likely of too much import.  
_

 _The world is dimming. Go on then, end it. I'm ready. I_ welcome _it. Take me with honour.  
_

 _ _I can't wait to see Mother and Father again.__

The introspection was interrupted by another memory of Meyneth's. Egil was front and centre, with her physical state making it impossible to distinguish anything or anyone else.

 _"You say I have nothing to lose? That simply proves you do not understand. I have something to_ save _."_

"Prepare to die, Shulk." Egil's voice from the present cut through all. "No...Zanza!"

Melia twitched.

 _...no, that won't do._

 _That won't do at all._

Melia grasped all the unseen ether that had been slowly seeping out of her and rolled it back up into herself, taking a deep breath that felt like inhaling sand. It wasn't just Egil who had something to save - or rather, someone to save. To simply lay there and allow her friends to be killed would be worse than eternity as a star in the hells below the horizon.

"I won't let you kill Shulk!"

There was an explosion of energy, painfully lifting Melia into a sitting position. Bright red streamers flowed out of the chestplate and encircled Yaldabaoth, forcing a pause in its attack.

"You... That light..." Egil's voice seemed shaken. "So it is true? You are willing to subject yourself to the humiliation of living as a High Entia to prevent me from achieving my dream? Lady Meyneth?"

Melia felt no hint of how to respond, presumably because Meyneth was busy generating the red ether waves that were both restraining Yaldabaoth's attack and providing a slight measure of recovery for her and the others. She would have to guess. "Your "dream" has escalated far beyond reasonable boundaries. You have alienated the very people you seek to save. But if you can accept the lengths your goddess is willing to extend to in order to stop you, you can still change your course."

"Silence!" The energy in Yaldabaoth's hand brightened. "I waited for the day of awakening and the new world it would bring, and this is my reward? To see my goddess captured by a girl of my sworn enemy, who claims she has betrayed me and all her fallen worshippers?"

"That's...not at all the case! She-"

"I do not care!" Egil turned away. "No matter which of you spoke those words, it is proof enough that Meyneth is a traitor! And gods can never exist alongside mortals!"

Melia was tempted to respond with a "why not?", but it didn't feel like anything she could say would make a positive difference now. Instead, she decided to focus on the red ether she was emitting, to see if she could target it better.

It didn't matter. Egil slammed Yaldabaoth's glowing hand into the ground, unleashing a blinding light everywhere and cancelling Meyneth's attack. But strangely, it didn't appear to do anything. The light faded to merely reveal that the golden Mechon had vanished.

Or at least, it didn't appear to do anything at first. As the leftover energy cleared, the floor began to shake.

Shulk stumbled to his feet. "We have to get out of here! The whole city's gonna explode!"

"Whuh?" Reyn looked around to see that several buildings in the distance were sparking. "Where're we supposed to go?"

"Anywhere! As far away as we can get!"

"We get down into the factory then!" Dunban was the first to start running back towards the transporter they came from.

Melia didn't move; she was busy lying on the ground wishing she could sleep for a few days straight. Meyneth's power may have relieved the rest of the group from exhaustion, but it was mostly at the expense of her own physical energy. She could feel that a lot of power was building up in the distant Central Tower for no apparent reason, and the Imperial Staff was magically glued to her hands once more, but that wouldn't help her find an iota of muscle strength.

"Melly move move move!" Riki grabbed her arm and started pulling.

"...I...cannot..." Melia tried to lift herself but slipped and fell back down. "...I have no...no force to..."

"Then Heropon helps!" Riki scooped up Melia with all four arms and started chasing down the rest of the party.

Melia felt like she was being carried by a pentagonal unicycle. Riki had enough trouble moving in a straight line by himself; while he had no difficulty with the extra weight, he was putting speed before care, and having no power to correct her own balance made the trip quite frightening.

It wasn't hard to catch up with the others. Gadolt had gone missing, and Reyn and Sharla had stopped for a moment to argue something about it. Shulk, Dunban, and Vanea were further ahead but not impossibly so; it didn't take much time for all to meet up again.

There was a massive explosion of energy behind them. No one dared to turn and look at it.

The road ahead began to light up as the shockwave advanced. The exit was still so far away.

Suddenly, a large figure stepped into the group's wake, blocking off the shockwave. It was Jade Face.

"Gadolt!" Sharla was the first to stop and turn; the others couldn't help but do the same.

"I'm glad...I'm on time." Gadolt held his Mechon still as it became ravaged by the energy. "I've fulfilled...my promise...Live...Sharla..."

The bloom became too much to look at; everyone closed their eyes or looked away, trying to get back into gear.

Melia suddenly became aware that there was a rather significant crack in the floor about three metres behind them, and that it would be a good idea for someone to jam something such as a sword into it. But everyone had already passed it, and there was no way she could communicate it quickly enough. She'd have to do it herself.

Scraping the barrel to find enough energy, she threw her staff into the air and mentally propelled it downards. Its head landed right in the largest part of the crack, where it stood mostly vertically.

Some part of Jade Face flew into the staff's handle, forcing it to jut further into the crack.

There was a huge creak followed by a massive snap as the entire floor segment broke and fell. Everyone reflexively screamed as they started falling.

Still being gripped by Riki, Melia started to feel energy flow back into her from Meyneth's chestplate. Clearly it was her idea to break the flooring; there was no other way to get away from the shockwave quickly enough.

She spotted the Imperial Staff tumbling away in the distance and held out her hand, willing it to return to her. It quickly stopped spinning and closed in, revealing that it had a piece of Jade Face lodged on. Or perhaps it was Gadolt's handheld weapon; it looked a bit too small to have been attached to the Mechon itself.

With the immediate problem of escaping Agniratha solved, the next pressing issue was dealing with the group's current pummet. They could feasibly continue all the way down to the Fallen Arm, but this would take a very long time and be counterproductive to continuing the chase on Egil. The Mechonis' pose, with its chin suspended over the sea, made it all but impossible to aim back towards any entrance to its interiors.

After a few minutes of thinking about it, Melia had an idea. Or rather, Meyneth passed her an idea.

"Riki, you may let go of me."

Riki couldn't hear the suggestion over the rushing wind. He continued to keep hold with two arms while skydiving with the other two.

Melia started to wiggle about. It took a bit, but Riki eventually understood that she wanted out, and carefully released her while trying not to make any huge aerodynamic changes.

Now free, she did as Meyneth suggested, forming a power pose in the air as if she were standing up to someone and visualizing a large bubble around the falling group.

Meyneth's chestplate began glowing. After a few seconds, a red sphere of energy appeared around the party, quickly slowing them down to a stop midair. Everyone was magically reoriented vertically.

"What's happening?" Sharla looked around in confusion.

Reyn's looking around was much more of a full-body experience. "It's like we're floating in mid-air!"

"It is Lady Meyneth." Vanea was the first to see what was really going on. "She has been through so much today, yet still finds the power to rescue us once more."

Melia nodded. "Yes. I still cannot sense her true thoughts, but...she is remembering Gadolt. Continuously replaying the image of him appearing in the explosion's path, blocking it from us for long enough for her to act. Without his sacrifice, we would not have survived."

"But now what?" asked Shulk. "How are we going to find Egil now?"

Melia looked up towards the Mechonis' head, to the location of what Meyneth was visualizing as a giant exoskeleton suitable for a large Face Mechon to wear. She could feel massive conduits of ether within the titan shuddering to their open positions, allowing the substance to flow through them for the first time in eons.

"I don't think finding him is the hard part."

The world shook as a great grinding and creaking filled the air, like nails on a chalkboard amplified to terrifying levels. Destructive tsunamis flowed out from the Mechonis' feet as they shifted ever so slightly, obliterating the fragile footbridge across the waters.

"Shulk!" Egil's voice was projected across the sky as if he were standing right before them, though it was unlikely to carry far enough to be heard by the battle in Sword Valley. "Do you hear it? The awakening of the Mechonis!"

The Mechonis began to move. Without delay, it began to reach up its reconstructed left arm, aiming to grasp its sword.

"This is my pain. The pain of my people echoing through the millennia."

Distant explosions dotted the arm as it passed through the airships participating in the battle below. It took the sword and began pulling.

"Fall to your deaths! Worthless insects!"

"Stop this!" Shulk yelled. He didn't particularily care if Egil could hear him, he just wanted to yell. "Kallian and the others are still on the sword! Our friends are going to die! Stop!"

Melia was less concerned. The allied force had Alvis; there was no possible way he wouldn't forsee Mechonis awakening and get out enough warning to save most of them. But more importantly, she was starting to run out of energy again. It wasn't easy to keep the antigravity bubble afloat.

"We're going to fall soon. In seconds, actually." She could probably keep it running for another minute or so, but she'd rather not end up too exhausted to move a muscle again. It was better to choose when it would go down.

"I think that's okay," Dunban responded, squnting down towards the Fallen Arm. "Something's coming for us."

Indeed, some sort of large ship was flying up from below, levelling out to begin positioning itself below the party.

"Then that's it." Melia let go of her grip on the bubble. It immediately disappeared and everyone started falling again.

Almost instantly, they landed on the deck of the incoming ship. It wasn't a soft landing, but at least it meant they wouldn't be falling for the rest of the day.

"Oohargh, couldn't give us a softer landing?" Reyn was the first to stand back up.

"Now, now." The voice was Miqol's, and was followed by short laughter. "Just getting here was a close enough call."

Shulk looked up to see Alvis hanging behind Miqol. "Alvis, of course."

Alvis nodded. "Yes. You are aboard Junks, the Machina ship."

Linada was also present. "He was the one who informed us you were in danger. It is good we found you in time."

Relieved, Shulk found a joke. " _Were_ in danger, or _would be_ in danger?"

Alvis shrugged. "Arguably, the difference is of little importance."

Something flew overhead, dropping another person down on the deck.

"Ah, look who it is." Dickson made a show of pushing Reyn out of the way and lunged forward to muss Shulk's hair. "Ain't dead yet I see."

Melia consciously took a few steps away from the two as the others approached for greetings. Dickson's sudden appearance felt like death itself had dove in from the sky, and immediately forced her to recall the strange dream from last night where he had shot Shulk. It was an impressive way of ruining the feeling of a successful escape.

It didn't take long for Junks to get back to the Hidden Village. The ship was estimated as a bit slower than Melia's, but unlike her small and unarmed eight-seat craft, it had the bulk to take enemy fire and would therefore be a better idea for returning the group to Mechonis later.

Once the ship had settled, Shulk asked the burning question. "Alvis, what happened to the allied force?"

"I informed His Highness of the possibility that the Mechonis would awaken," Alvis answered. "His Highness is wise. He will have acted to minimise casualties."

"That's good."

"But what do we do now?" responded Dunban. "At this rate, that blasted Egil's gonna destroy Bionis."

"There is still time," Melia said, once again being fed knowledge by Meyneth. "The Mechonis has been idle for eons, and it is being forced to move by foreign ether from the Bionis. Egil must wait for it to fully adapt to both this and his means of controlling it. If we can get to the core of the Mechonis, we can still stop him."

Vanea pointed at a schematic of the Mechonis on one of the surrounding screens. "On the back of the Mechonis is a huge cooling duct. We should be small enough to enter the control core section via the duct's heat transfer conduits."

The party agreed and began to make plans. While they needed some time to reset and recuperate, they would head to the core as soon as possible.

* * *

Melia sat alone in the main room of the abandoned house the party had been using, head on the table and half-asleep. The group had all split up to do whatever they each needed to do to prepare for departure in the next half-hour, and what she needed was some undisturbed rest.

Of course, "undisturbed" was completely unrealistic. There was a constant hubbub outside from both nature and the Machina reacting to the Mechonis's sudden awakening. The Mechonis itself could be heard, casting quiet but piercing whines and groans over the world as it moved.

And really, the "rest" part was never going to happen either. Her mind was too active, unable to stop focusing on one thing - how Shulk left her when they had to run from Agniratha. He'd spent the better part of the last month being obsessively protective of her, and gone out of his way to secure her after the fight with Jade Face, but when the worst actually came down he left her behind. Not just her, but Meyneth as well. And even knowing that Egil had not yet been defeated. He left them both behind and just saved himself.

She considered confronting him about it. Would getting an answer be worth the strife it could certainly cause? Did she even want to know the answer?

The decision was taken out of her hands as Shulk walked into the room. "Ah, there you are, Melia. I've been making sure that everyone's all ready for whatever's next. How are you doing?"

"...Fine."

"Okay, so how are you _actually_ doing?"

 _Fine, be that way._ Melia sat up and turned to face him. "I watched you leave me to die when the Mechonis capital was falling apart. How do you _think_ I am doing?"

Shulk looked confused for a moment before realizing what she meant. He immediately curled up a bit and started bumbling, clearly some degree of scared. "Uh, well, um...I don't...er, is...I mean...no, I- Okay." He shook his head to try and clear it.

Melia wasn't surprised he was unable to answer. She kind of regretted putting it so harshly, but there was no turning back. It was a life-or-death matter, after all - there wasn't much reason to be anything but painfully blunt. She was about to turn away in disgust when he finally responded.

"I knew you weren't going to die. I would've gotten a vision if you were, if any of us were."

 _Hmmmm._ Melia put a fist on her chin to show she was considering the answer. _The latter part of that is likely true. But I don't believe you would have thought of it in the moment. And we already know you don't get visions for everything._

Shulk slumped. "Look, I don't have a better answer. Everyone makes bad decisions in a panic. We've all done it."

Melia didn't react. The honesty was nice, but it didn't change the reality, and the attempt to soften it with the final comment felt insincere. She certainly didn't think anyone else had made a poor decision equal to abandoning one of their own in the face of certain doom.

"...Whatever. You just want to be left alone." Shulk didn't wait for a response before shuffling out.

 _That's the end of that. He gave me his side of the story, and he knows he made the wrong decision. There is no need to dwell on it any further._

Telling herself to stop thinking about it had no effect, of course. Instead, it just advanced the thought process a stage or two, towards the conclusion she had been hoping to avoid considering - for him to make such a mistake was fairly concrete proof that last night's dinner had failed to set any feelings for her in him. It was a painful realization, a sign that where she hoped for minor success and expected somewhat less, she instead got complete and utter failure.

A nexus of pain and chaos approached the room.

 _Oh will you stay away from me._

Dickson poked his head through the door for a moment before walking the rest of himself in. "Ah, was wonderin' who Shulk was talking to in here. You still good with this whole shebang, princess?"

Melia took a deep breath to cancel the first few words that came to mind. "I am fine."

"Good to hear it. I appreciate a royal who actually does something. The prince is the same way, looks like a sissy, but he's got guts."

 _Are you here for something useful, or just to chat me up?_

Dickson looked in the general direction Shulk had gone for a moment. "Gonna be honest with ya, princess. I'm not all too confident in Shulk right now. He's too soft, thinking he can make Egil just step down somehow. But you're a tough little bird. Kallian's gone on about it. I can see it in your eye. So I come to ask ya a favour. Think you can finish the job if Shulk wimps out?"

Melia's first instinct was to just walk somewhere else, to flat-out ignore the question and go find someone else to hang around until Dickson would stop bothering her. But perhaps against her better judgement, she instead countered. "What makes you believe I am any more willing to kill than the others?"

"It ain't about the killing." Dickson paused to let the distant Mechonis finish a particularily long and loud creak. "It's about knowin' who would and wouldn't do the right thing. Reyn, Dunban, Sharla, none of them would kill Egil if Shulk told 'em not to. They all think he'd be doing the right thing. But you're smarter than that. You wouldn't follow Shulk blindly. You can do what you have to do, even if you don't want to."

 _You sound like Father. In fact I feel somewhat offended how uncanny it is._

"So how 'bout it then? Can we trust you to end it if Shulk doesn't?"

The thing Melia hated the most about the situation is that Dickson had a legitimate point. What if Egil truly was irredeemable? Shulk probably wouldn't admit it until it was too late, and no one else would be willing to preempt him. It felt a lot like the events at Prison Island - she had been the only one to question Shulk's freeing of Zanza, a decision that still had yet to be fully resolved as good or bad. And of the party outside Shulk, she was probably the only one who was capable of killing Egil before anyone else could react - Reyn, Dunban, and Riki would have to get into melee range first, while Sharla felt like the least likely to make the choice.

She decided that the best thing to do would be to say whatever felt necessary just to get rid of Dickson, so the topic of conversation would die. "You can trust me to make the correct decision."

Dickson shook his head in disappointment. "Guess I was wrong about you then. Too non-committal, hedging your bets. You'll be dead while you're still thinking about what's "right", instead of just doing it."

Melia couldn't help but defend herself. "There is a great deal of difference between making a heated decision in the moment and considering it in the quiet ahead of time."

"That is true." Dickson scratched his chin. "Still, it ain't exactly reassuring. We only got one more chance, and I'd hate to see it go pear-shaped because of some indecision. You just keep that in mind, princess."

He stood up and was about to leave, but paused and looked at Meyneth's chestplate. "By the way, I'm still in the market for that piece of yours. If you haven't figured it any secrets it has yet, I'll gladly take it off your hands. Might be a bit late for it to help with Egil, but hey could be worth a go."

Melia didn't want to reveal anything about the chestplate, but figured a bit of truth might help get rid of the badgering. "The device has ingrained itself into my body. Even if I wished to part with it, I currently cannot."

"Is that so? I see." Dickson nodded slowly and looked to be thinking about something for a moment. "Well, let me know if that changes. I'll be waiting." He finally left.

Melia lowered her head back onto the table with relief at the irritating Homs' departure. She added a new reason to look forward to all of this being over: she'd never have to see Dickson again.


	11. Apocryphae

Returning to Mechonis was a bumpy ride. Junks had evaded most of the incoming fire but couldn't dodge everything, and the blast it had fired with its main weapon to open the cooling duct was almost more of a jolt than the flak it had taken. But the relative peace and quiet of parking somewhere within the titan was even more foreboding.

Most everyone was ready to depart. Reyn and Dunban were checking each others' weapons for problems. Sharla was giving Gadolt's Cannon last-minute adjustments. Melia was idly looking over the Imperial Staff, assuring herself that none of its spindles had been damaged. Riki was swinging his biter around with little restraint. Dickson, who was coming along like it or not, was hanging around the exit.

Shulk, however, was nervously pacing around. It looked like he was having some sort of internal conflict of interest.

After a minute or two of realizing Shulk wasn't leading the group out the door, Reyn stepped in front of him. "C'mon, Shulk, spit it out. What's got you all in a knot now?"

"What?" Shulk didn't seem ready for someone to talk to him. "What do-"

"No I ain't hearin' it. Something's givin' you the worries again. We're a team, let us fix it up for you."

Shulk glanced around to see that everyone was now looking at him. He let out a deep sigh. "The Monado isn't at full strength. I don't know if it can beat Egil."

"Oh that's it then?" Reyn chuckled. "That Apocry-whatchamacallit thing ain't nothin against all of us together, and you been doing pretty well against it so far."

"And we're better off now than earlier," Dunban added. "We know how Egil fights. We won't make the same mistakes again."

Vanea stepped in. "The core is directly linked to the Apocrypha Generator. If you destroy the generator, the Apocrypha field will deactivate, and the Monado will no longer be suppressed."

"What? You been holding that back, eh?" Reyn clapped Shulk on the shoulder. "You hear that, Shulk? One little detour and your big worry's gone!"

Shulk barely budged. "That's not all. Egil...called me Zanza. Not just like I'm using his blade, but me personally. What did he mean? Should I really be using the Monado to stop the Mechonis if that's how Zanza started this whole thing?"

Reyn ignored Shulk's attitude. "He's just trying to get to you. Don't let him bring you down."

"There's more though," Shulk continued. "I haven't been getting as many visions lately. But if I try hard enough, I...I can still sense what's going to happen. Without a vision at all."

"C'mon, Shulk, get it together. We don't need you questionin' yourself." Reyn gave him a prod. "Now let's get out there and save the world, eh?"

Shulk looked around at the others before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "You're right, Reyn. Let's go."

He started to leave Junks. The others followed.

Melia wasn't in the best mood to begin with. Being even this close to the Apocrypha Generator was uncomfortable, its Monado-cancelling ether waves strong enough to make her feel artificially pressured and anxious. It didn't help that Shulk's abandonment of her in Agniratha was still weighing heavily on her mind, generating additional worry that it could happen again if something else went terribly wrong. And now, hearing that Shulk wasn't getting as many visions made it feel even worse - his claim that he'd have gotten a vision if she was in danger now rung hollow. Perhaps he believed it himself, in which case it wouldn't be his fault to make such a claim, but it still hurt.

What was she to him then? Nothing more than a friend like the other party members, probably. It was hard to believe he even viewed her as a Fiora surrogate now; if it were Fiora lying on the ground in the Mechonis capital, she felt certain he wouldn't have left without her even if it meant they both failed to escape. No, she was just a friend. If even that, honestly - he was clearly more comfortable with the others, almost certainly due to their low-class backgrounds like him, and would a true friend have not even tried to-

Melia angrily stomped the floor, trying to derail her train of thought. _Focus. There'll be plenty of time to hate life later. Either that or die and have no life to hate, so that's a win-win._ Luckily, she was the last to leave Junks, so there was no one to see her temporary outburst.

Just as Melia walked out the door, with the others on the deck in front of her, a strange blue energy started to crackle over Shulk's body. He immediately began crying out in pain and collapsed, with the Monado falling off his back.

"What? Shulk?" Reyn was the first to react by running up to him, but he didn't dare touch him without knowing what was going on. "Shulk, what's wrong?"

The others began to huddle around as Shulk spasmed and screamed.

"...no, it can't be!" Dunban kneeled down beside Shulk. "It's happening to him too. Hold on, Shulk!"

Melia found a gap in the huddle near Shulk's front right side. _So this is what took Dunban's arm from him? An overdose of the Monado's power?_ She realized that everyone else was crouching or otherwise leaning down in some way, leaving her the tallest in the group. It was kind of amusing. But it didn't do much to stifle the fear that Shulk was having a very serious problem, which looked like it had high potential to cripple both him and the group's efforts.

The foreign energy quickly dissipated. Shulk started to calm down, screaming replaced with gasping.

"You okay, man?" Reyn was still too hesitant to get much closer.

"...I think so." Shulk's voice wavered, as if he were unsure of himself. While he managed to sit up, he was kind of staring off into the distance, unfocused.

"I never thought this might happen to you," Dunban said, somewhat upset with himself. "Your control of the Monado has always been flawless. Are you sure you're okay?"

Melia had a guess as to what was going on. "The effects of the Apocrypha Generator are far stronger as we approach it. It must take an unsustainable amount of effort to counter this close."

"Ain't you learnt yet, Shulk?" Reyn blurted. "I've said it again and again, if something's up, you gotta spit it out, man! And not just about visions. Whatever's on your mind, anything at all. All right?"

Shulk still appeared somewhat dazed. "...yeah. I get it."

"No, I don't think so," Melia said. "You're still clearly quite shaken."

"...yeah, I guess I am." He put on a weak smile and held a hand up towards her. "Want to fix that?"

Melia presumed the hand was for pulling him to his feet. She'd done so in battle before, but not without significant exertion, so it was curious why he picked her to help. _Perhaps it's an artifact of my apparent height, with all the others crouching and stooping. Or simply to try and make me feel better after what occurred earlier today._ She stepped forward to take the hand and got ready to pull.

"Wha-"

Shulk stayed rooted and yanked Melia down to her knees before capturing her in a hug.

Melia's immediate instinct was panic; defensively raising her arms in response to being pulled down had allowed Shulk's grip to pin them to her chest. She thrashed her legs about for around two seconds, which was enough for Shulk to lose his balance and fall backwards, dragging her further down on top of him.

But then realization sunk in, and the panic stopped. It was a hug. She hadn't had one of those in...she didn't even know. Alright, so there was one with her father at Prison Island, and a couple with Riki at a few points during their adventure. But Nopon hugs were too asymmetric to be satisfying, and the one at Prison Island was too clouded by the terrible memories of what had come next. This was different. It was...

It was _blissful_. There was no better word for it.

She could feel her whole body relax as it settled into Shulk's topology. It was warm and inviting, soft yet firm, but more than anything it felt _safe_. Being immersed in Shulk's effusive ether felt like occupying the one safe spot in an infinite plane of suffering. She instinctively closed her eyes to amplify the tactile feelings. It was kind of uncomfortable to have her chin right in his shoulder, but she didn't care; she didn't need to be grasped to stay here forever. She could feel his breath on her left wing, which was somewhat creepy but mostly helped affirm that this couldn't be a dream.

It felt like both eternity and no time at all before Shulk exerted the two back upright and let go, proceeding to stand up. Melia remained kneeled on the ground, mostly limp and in somewhat of a dreamy stupor, for about three seconds before snapping out of it and doing the same.

"Thank you, Melia," Shulk said. "I really needed someone to just hold for a bit. I feel a lot better." He did look and sound significantly better.

Melia had no response; in order to put her feelings into words she would first need to understand them. Figuring she had to answer somehow, she simply nodded.

"Now _you're_ the one who looks pretty flustered, Melia," Sharla teased.

It was somewhat of a rude reminder that there were seven other people huddled around, probably staring at the interaction the whole time. Melia could feel all the blood rushing to her face as she scrambled for a response.

"I...I've never been hugged by someone my size before."

It was a newfound realization - aside from Riki, all her life's previous hugs were from family members at least a head taller than her, if not double or more her childhood height. To feel all of Shulk's body parts in about the same location as hers certainly added to the surrealness.

Dickson was the one to break it up. "Well as much as you all might have needed a bonding moment, we still got a job to do." He tilted his head towards the path ahead.

"Right," Dunban answered. "Let's get to that generator."

The party started off again, heading towards the nearby energy source.

Melia let herself fall to the back of the group, far enough to be unseen but not far enough to be believed missing.

She was extraordinarily confused about what had just happened. Not so much about why Shulk wanted to hug her of all people - it did make sense to need a hug after a somewhat traumatic experience, and he probably wanted to try and make it up to her from Agniratha earlier. But more importantly, she kind of hated herself for suddenly becoming so weak and submissive just because she received a hug from Shulk. What about it was so disarmingly inviting? She absolutely hated being touched by strangers, and even friends caused a lot of anxiety when they bumped into her or had to help her up. True, she was aware that hugging is an important biological construct and that she was highly deprived of them, and so would in theory react favourably to one as long as it were delivered by someone she knew. The phrase "touch starvation" rolled around in her mind as something she wouldn't be surprised to be diagnosed with - after all, her mother was the only one who ever touched her in a positive way on a regular basis, and she'd been dead for four and a half decades. But the few hugs she'd had in the past few months had never been remotely as intense and the one Shulk had just delivered - it caused her to completely shut out the world and melt into pudding. What was different?

Deep in thought, Melia didn't notice that Shulk had dropped out of the group to meet her. "What are you thinking about, Melia?"

 _Never you mind._ "A great many things."

Shulk nodded. "Yeah, I know how that feels. Maybe you should tell me some of them, so I can think about them for you."

Melia shook her head and looked away. "They are...deeply personal things. Even were I brave enough to divulge one, I doubt anyone else could understand it."

"Oh." Shulk continued walking at her pace for a few steps before responding. "But don't you want to feel better? You heard what Reyn said, you can't just keep everything inside all the time."

"...I suppose." Melia thought for a moment, trying to find something that she was indeed thinking about recently, but not related to her conflicted thoughts about Shulk. "Very well, I shall tell you something. I am afraid."

"Afraid that we'll lose?"

"Afraid that even if we win, it will be at a terrible cost. Either to us personally, or to the world as a whole." She had intended to leave it there, but for whatever reason ended up continuing. "I am no stranger to fear of failure. It feels like every day of my childhood and even beyond, I have had to put immense effort into pleasing my parents and others. I can tolerate that feeling. But now, there is...something new. Not just fear for myself, but fear for others. Others that I never could have imagined being friends of, let alone being fearful for."

Shulk nodded slowly. "I'm scared too. And it feels kind of...ugly. I mean, in one way, Egil's already killed so many of us, what's another one or two more, don't worry about it and go save the world. But on the other hand...that one more could be the worst one."

Melia was in complete agreement. But before she could state so, Shulk continued.

"I used to think that the worst one had already happened, actually, when Fiora was killed. And I guess it would have been, if I just sat in the colony and moped about it, and just let the nightmares happen while the Mechon prepared the next attack. But instead I came out here to get revenge, and met a bunch of new people. Older siblings, concerned parents, entirely new societies." He took a long breath. "And a _new_ worst person to lose."

Melia took a moment to guess at who Shulk could mean, but she drew a blank - Reyn and Dunban weren't _new_ as he implied, he didn't seem to have exceptional affinity with Sharla or Riki, he'd demonstrated earlier that she herself wasn't it, he hadn't really met Meyneth, and it didn't feel like anyone outside the party would fit the bill.

Her curiosity got the best of her; she worked on a way to pry the answer. "From my point of view, you would be the worst person to lose because I believe Egil would be nigh-invulnerable without-"

"No, Melia, it's not about defeating Egil." Shulk's arm swung towards the party in front of them, a fair distance away now. "It's about life afterwards. It's about living in the world we saved." He looked up for a moment. "It's about being with the people we saved."

"If you frame it that way..." She worked on a new response. "I'm not as certain of my opinion then. You are all relatively even in my mind in terms of companionship. But perhaps you would still be the answer, if only because it was ultimately your actions that caused me to fall in with this exceptional group of people."

Shulk let out a small chuckle. "That's what I thought I'd hear. Carefully choosing your words to not offend anyone, but still sticking to your choice."

After a pause, Melia became irked that Shulk didn't appear to be holding up his end of the unspoken agreement. She would have to be direct. "What about you, then? Who do you fear the most losing?"

Shulk looked confused. "What?"

Melia looked at him expectantly.

"...oh, you don't know. I thought you knew. Or'd have figured it out by now." Shulk shrugged and looked ahead. "And they call _me_ the socially oblivious one."

 _How could you expect me to figure it out when you have given no indication of favouritism towards anyone in our party, aside from perhaps the version of Fiora you've projected onto me?_

"It's just some girl. Met her a few weeks ago."

 _...what? How? No, this is a farce, there can't be someone like that without us knowing about it._

"Cute even though she's a fair bit older than me. Smart and well-educated. Rich but doesn't act like a stuck-up."

 _Yes this is a fictional person. No name given and doesn't match anyone we know. Who are you trying to fool? Yourself?  
_

"A natural pilot, which I think is really cool. Could probably kill an army by herself if she got mad enough. Doesn't care for laws or the laws of physics; makes things happen anyway."

 _Complete and utter hyperbole. Not remotely believable._

"Somehow a worse hugger than me but I think she'll learn, and she's already an excellent huggee."

 _...That's...oddly specific._

Keeping a straight face, Shulk turned to look directly at Melia. "I'm pretty sure she likes me and is too scared to admit it. Probably just scared of rejection, but maybe also scared of admitting it to herself. _I_ know that neither of those should be a problem, but she's had a tough life and I don't blame her for being slow on something like this. Maybe one day...if there is another day after this."

Melia's pace slowed to almost a stop. She didn't want it to, it just happened as her thought process continued. _Older, well-educated, rich...likes Shulk and is scared to admit it..._

Shulk kept going and slightly sped up to catch up with the rest of the party. His job was done.

 _Could...Shulk have been...referring to... **me?**  
_

 _No. No, impossible, absolutely impossible. He cares not for me outside being a Fiora surrogate, as Reyn is for Gadolt to Sharla. He has shown it many, many times._

 _But who else could possibly fit even a quarter of his description? And why would he go to the trouble of inventing a person simply to avoid answering a question?  
_

 _...I don't need this. This internal conflict, being jolted back and forth as to whether Shulk holds any...reciprocation of my feelings. Especially not now._

Melia violently shook her head to try and clear it, but it did nothing. Instead, it started replaying a bunch of memories of Shulk going out of his way for her. To her surprise, while they were indeed biased towards more recent times, there wasn't a shortage of them from earlier - his efforts to aid her against the two Telethia stood out the most. Could there have been something even then?

Of course, it didn't take long for the most frustrating memory of all to pop up. When she first met Shulk and the others in Makna Forest, her initial instinct was to reject their help and continue her attack on the Telethia alone. But her mind was changed by recalling something Alvis had told her in the few hours before leaving for the forest: a vision he had received that claimed she would met a young man with blond hair and a "sword of light", and that they would change the fate of the world "together". She had decided to accept Shulk's help once she realized he fit Alvis's description, and by the time the Telethia was destroyed it was all but certain it was referring to him.

She'd managed to suppress the memory for a while now, but it was no surprise it returned during this most confusing time. She remembered being initially uncertain what exactly Alvis meant by "together", and had eventually decided that it being a marriage prophecy was too unlikely, given her historical lack of such feelings for anyone and lack of necessity for a lesser heir to marry. But after her sudden appointment to the throne, and Shulk continued to drive feelings in her that had never been felt before, it felt more possible than ever - while simultaneously feeling outright impossible due to Shulk's apparently disinterested stance towards her. It was the ultimate conflicting thought - did it ensure that Shulk would eventually come around to her, or had they already changed the world together as mere friends and thus rendered the vision complete and expired?

 _Shut up, shut up shutup._ It wasn't a typical choice of words, reflecting her conflicted frustration. She dashed forward to rejoin the group, hoping that being less alone would help.

It didn't help. Melia caught up to the others as they reached a long bridge, but the turmoil in her mind continued at full force. In fact, as they approached the platform at the other end of the bridge, the negative half of her feelings seemed to develop ever stronger, causing the positive half to try and assert itself even more. She figured the Apocrypha Generator's immense power was messing with her mind; it kind of felt like it was wrapping around her like a predatory blanket. She had hoped that Meyneth would know something about it, but so far her only memories and instincts from that direction were that Egil painstakingly built it himself over many years; Meyneth herself knew very little about it.

The party reached the platform and looked up at the far wall, covered with a bunch of protrusions and spinning rings. Even the less-ether-sensitive people could feel it was a source of great power, though it was likely most of them couldn't feel its suffocating effects.

"This machine," Shulk said. "Is this it?"

"It is," Vanea replied. "The Apocrypha Generator."

"Yeah!" Reyn shouted. "Let's trash the thing! Then Shulk'll be rockin' as hard as ever."

"Indeed," Vanea mused. "It is a miracle that you have been able to use the Monado at all."

Shulk nodded slowly. He appeared to be being distracted by two different things.

 _Shulk must feel completely overwhelmed by the generator's pressure this close,_ Melia reasoned. "Are you really alright?"

It looked like it took a fair amount of effort for Shulk to tear his eyes off the generator, and once he did, he remained idle and unfocused for a few moments.

"...I'm...not sure. I think I am, but..."

There was a flash of red light. A large metal sphere emerged from the generator, surrounded by an energy shield and four satellites. The Apocrypha's core had come out to defend itself.

Shulk shook his head and looked back, suddenly with a clear expression again, one hand on the Monado's handle.

"I'm fine because _you're_ here with me, Melia. Let's do this!" He turned to attack.

The rest of the party cried for battle and followed Shulk's lead.

Melia didn't budge, stunned by what she thought she had heard.

Shulk reached the heart that opposed him and delivered the first blow to its hardened shell. The core's defenses were effective, but it still took enough of a hit that the cancellation waves flowing out of it were no longer perfectly even.

The pressure that had been building in Melia's mind blew out through the weakness in the field, igniting her burst aura and covering her in an all-encompassing feeling of utter relief. It was partly relief that the oppressive energy field was ruptured. But more importantly, it was relief that Shulk had finally broken the uncertainty around what he thought of her, relief that there would be no more frustrated trains of thought travelling in endless circles around the issue what felt like every single day. She could finally put the question to rest.

And even better than ending the uncertainty was the direction it had been ended in - it was what she wanted to hear. There was indeed a mutual connection, a two-way street of affection that while perhaps uneven was undoubtedly open both ways. While his description was heavily overflowered, it was now without question that he viewed her as his worst person to lose - not for anything that he had seen in someone else, but for her alone.

What was just relief turned into freedom and elation. Shulk was right: so far she had been carefully guarding her true feelings in fear of not only rejection, but ridicule from others. That wouldn't have to be the case anymore - there was no negativity at all from anyone else in response to Shulk's actions towards her, and Shulk had made it plainly obvious that her fear of rejection was unfounded. She would probably still keep her feelings inside until she got used to the idea, but the ability to be free and honest about things would hopefully quickly turn into the norm.

Surprisingly, it didn't take much effort for Melia to start paying attention to the battle. It felt easier and more natural than ever to go through the motions of her arts, driven by the positive energy she was bathed in. Yet despite feeling so empowered, she had no problem staying within her role as support, allowing the others to keep the heat off her.

The Apocrypha's core was no pushover. It was heavily armoured and its offensive satellites were quite dangerous. The battle stretched on for longer than expected.

The floor shook.

"Wait." Dunban looked up to see the walls and ceiling also moving. "We're moving!"

"Big deal!" Reyn kept fighting. "Kinda busy here!"

The tremors died down surprisingly quickly, or perhaps everyone simply got used to them. It didn't take long for the group to forget about it.

Melia's morale was so high that her burst aura remained flowing even after firing a dozen elementals. So when Meyneth raised the idea to unleash her ultimate attack, she had no reason to hesitate.

Of course, she wouldn't be a fool again. "I am preparing to use Final Cross!" She didn't know where the name came from; it vaguely seemed like she'd said similar before but couldn't remember.

"Got it!"

"Understood!"

Reyn and Dunban muscled some extra effort out of their distraction tactics, working together to pull the device's attention in the opposite direction.

Once they appeared ready, Melia focused her energy through Meyneth's chestplate. But first, she held the bottom of her staff up to it and pointed its head towards the enemy, hoping to get the foreign ether to flow through the staff in an attempt to better learn how to control it. With her plan prepared, she released the power.

The red energy tore through the air, converging on the foe to knock it down to the ground. Some of it did go through the staff, and produced a flowing sensation that was useful to experience, but most of it painfully ripped through her hands instead. It was hard to keep her grip on the staff for the attack's duration, but she felt that next time, she might be able to reroute the energy through her body and out of her staff instead. It was unfortunately the final straw for her burst aura, and she would have to start building it up again.

The Apocrypha's core had trouble recovering from the Final Cross. Shulk destroyed one of its satellites while it was down, leaving its attacks askew enough that it willingly detonated a second simply to restore balance. But from there the victor was decided - it wasn't long after that before it lay on the ground split into three pieces. The weakening dampening field fell into emptiness as the greater machine ground to a halt.

"Nyapakapow!" Riki shook his four fists at the scrap.

"Get stuffed, Apocawhatever! Right, Shulk?" Reyn turned around to no reply. "Shulk?"

Shulk was staring at the activated Monado, concentrating on something.

"Oi!" Reyn looked to consider waving a hand in his face but backed off.

After a few seconds, the Monado's blade grew to twice its normal length as a whirl of energy surrounded it. Everyone took a step back.

"I...I've done it," Shulk muttered. "I figured it out."

"Figured it out?" questioned Dunban. "You mean there is something more to destroying the generator than simply allowing your full potential once more?"

Shulk raised the Monado into the air. A huge cyclone suddenly began, surrounding a large area around him in gale-force winds that knocked over about half the party.

"I haven't just gone back to normal," he said, staring at the new symbol in the Monado's circle. "All the effort I did to _stay_ normal - now that the generator's gone, it's made me even _more_ powerful. I...I think I invented a new art."

"Have you ever." Sharla stood back up. "We weren't ready for it, but it still knocked us right down. That'll be a big surprise."

"Absolutely." Shulk deactivated the weapon and looked over it. "They say it's impossible for one person to fully understand both breaking and toppling. But I'm not surprised the Monado knows how."

Dickson snarled impatiently. "That's nice 'n' all, but while you were fighting, the Mechonis powered up and struck. Must've hit somewhere on Bionis."

Melia had to use all her willpower to not step in front of Dickson and make a slow, exaggerated facepalm. _I defy you to tell me where else it could possibly have struck._

"Then we'd better get after Egil." Shulk replaced the Monado on his back and looked at the nearby transporter. "He has to know we've destroyed the generator. Let's finish this."

As everyone prepared to move on, Melia waited for Shulk to advance so she could take up her preferred position in the back half of the group. But he instead milled around, seemingly waiting for something himself.

 _Why is he delaying? Is something not quite right? Has he forgotten something?  
_

 _Why is he slightly holding his hand out like that?_

After about twenty seconds, Shulk sighed and approached Melia. "C'mon, let's go." He took her hand and started walking towards the transporter.

"Eep!" It was an involuntary reaction, given the last two times Shulk had taken her hand in the past few hours were for an injury overreaction and a surprise pull-down hug. But this time, it was for simply...gently holding hands while walking at a leisurely pace. It was yet another alien sensation in this already very long day - one that was less all-encompassing than the hug, but was lasting for far longer.

"That attack's incredible," Shulk said, clearly trying to make idle talk. "Have you figured it out, or is it mostly Meyneth?"

Melia found it was a lot easier to stop obsessively focusing on the current physical contact when in conversation. "My understanding is that I supply the raw ether energy, and Meyneth focuses it into its destructive form. But having used it three times now, I believe I am starting to learn the waveforms, and could possibly learn to directly use it myself."

Shulk nodded. "Cool. I kind of hope you don't learn it though, because that would probably mean we'd be fighting Egil for longer than just today."

"You are quite right. As beneficial as our partnership has been, I do not believe Meyneth wishes to remain with me once her duty is fulfilled. It will be a relief for both of us."

"Me too." Shulk eyed the chestplate. "We'd never have gotten this far without her, but I still can't wait for her to leave so...you can be completely, fully yourself again."

Melia wasn't sure if she was okay about the subject progressing too far when surrounded by so many other people, especially Dickson. "I share your sentiments, Shulk. But now is not the time to get ahead of ourselves."

"Right. Still one thing left to do." There was a pause. "Melia, do you think Egil can still be saved?"

Melia took a moment to gather her opinion together. "I believe that Egil is doing the wrong thing for the right reason, which has hardened his point of view to a nigh-unbreakable solidity. We have already demonstrated his goddess and entire people are against him, and he simply added it to his list of betrayals. To shatter his reality beyond the point of denial would take an action I cannot fathom the nature of. But...if we can indeed find such an action, to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that he is blinded by revenge..."

Shulk nodded. "I figured about the same. It might take something huge, but there's still a chance. And we should look for it."

They stopped just in front of the transporter.

Shulk's gaze went back to Melia's face. "I'm ready. Are you ready?"

Melia thought about how much had changed in the past twenty-four hours. Yesterday, she believed Shulk viewed her as nothing but a replacement Fiora for the duration of their adventure, and that they would part ways afterward with almost zero likelihood of meaningfully seeing each other again. Since then - over the course of a social game, a surprise date, several difficult fights, and a terrible mistake - her views had undergone multiple overhauls back and forth, from possible connection down to less than a friend and back again many times. But now it appeared that Shulk had finally made it clear - she wasn't just a Fiora substitute or a Meyneth container. He cared about her as her, not someone else, and he wasn't afraid of displaying it in front of all the others.

She felt like she might have found a Second Consort that would make the empress experience a lot less unbearable.

"I've never been more ready."


	12. Purpose

Shulk had tried one last time to sway Egil, to convince him that they could live together again without the two titans having to fight once more. But Egil did not care. He remained convinced that Meyneth or whoever was claiming to be her was no god to him or to anyone, and that nothing but destroying the Bionis and all life on it could restore peace.

So they fought. Six warriors from Bionis against one man and the technological horrors he had constructed.

It was a long battle. Yaldabaoth was substantially hampered by the Mechonis-controlling shell it sat in, making it unable to move or attack effectively, but it made up for it by an unending stream of Mechon summoned as if from nowhere. And while it lacked in offensive power, its defenses were even more potent; the group's most devastating attacks would clean out the Mechon and allow a clear path to their leader, but do unimpressive damage to him directly. As the battle raged, Mechonis itself stood silent and ready, showing no hint of the fight in its head to the Bionis' armies standing in uneasy anticipation across the sea.

It was only when Egil feared he may actually lose that he decided to prepare to end it, readying all the Mechonis' power for an attack that would cleave the Bionis in two. But such a world-changing action could not possibly slip beneath the notice of Shulk's visions, granting his party all the time they needed to damage the nearby energy-focusing devices and cause them to trigger a feedback surge that stunned every Mechon in the vicinity, including Yaldabaoth.

Shulk didn't miss his chance. With no opposition in his way, he hopped up onto Yaldabaoth's chassis and sliced its head off, leaving Egil sticking out somewhat comically.

"How could this happen?!" Egil seemed upset with himself more than anything.

Shulk stood with the Monado held high, ready to come down.

 _Do it!_ A voice in Shulk's head urged him on. _Kill him! Killll him!_

 _That voice..._ Shulk thought. _It's the piece of Zanza giving me advice again. Has it been this loud before?_

 _Strike him down!_

"...yes." Shulk was only dimly aware he was muttering aloud. "I'll kill him. A hundred, thousand times."

 _Yes! Finish him! End it! It is what you want!_

"It is. I'll kill him. For everything he's done. For Fiora. For the Emperor. For the Bionis!" He willed the Monado to shine even brighter.

The memory of another voice appeared in his head. _You must find your Monado. Are you ready?_ It was Alvis'. Had he ever said that exact phrase before?

His mind was suddenly filled with other memories, all playing over and through each other at the same time. Otharon readied to sacrifice himself to Xord. Mumkhar taunted over whether it was okay to kill a Homs to beat the Mechon. Miqol wanted Egil to be killed. Sharla declared her absolute hatred for the mechanical foes. Vanea discussed Egil's original motivations.

Everything was eclipsed by a far more recent memory - that of Melia from no more than an hour ago.

 _"I believe that Egil is doing the wrong thing for the right reason...if we can indeed find such an action, to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that_ _he is blinded by revenge..."_

 _"..._ _ _blinded by revenge..._ "_

"This..." Shulk wobbled, no longer sure of himself. "No! I don't want this!"

The Monado came down as if by itself. Shulk had to exert a fair bit of will to stop it mere centimetres from Egil's head.

There was a long pause.

Shulk eventually deactivated the Monado and sat down on Yaldabaoth's collar.

"What?" Egil seemed even more incredulous than when he was defeated. "Why would you simply give up in your moment of triumph?"

"There's no triumph here."

"No triumph? You had me at your mercy, ready to end it and save your world. Were you not fighting for this all along?"

"...Not for this. Not for killing you. That would..." Shulk found it hard to continue. "That would make me just as blind to reason as you are."

" _Reason?_ If you do not kill me now, you and your entire people will be destroyed. Is there no _reason_ to preventing that?"

"I don't need to kill you to prevent that. I just need to...keep stopping you from doing it, over and over again if I have to. Until...we understand each other."

Egil looked down in thought for a moment and turned his head away. He appeared at least somewhat moved.

Melia felt a great burst of relief come from Meyneth. _She must believe this is a turning point for Egil._

After a moment, Egil laid out his thoughts. "Once, our two worlds existed in peace, the races of both living together in the spirit of cooperation. There was no reason to believe we would not continue to grow together for eternity. None, expect for the Monado. The Monado refused to permit the existence of the Mechonis. Or rather, the existence of anything but itself. And one day, my friend Arglas came upon it, and it took control of him. Becoming Zanza, he directed his sword at Mechonis, breaking the established harmony simply because he wanted to."

Shulk had a question. "So...the Monado causes people to turn into Zanza?"

"The Monado _is_ Zanza. Zanza is the Monado. The two are one and the same. He uses it to inhabit beings of Bionis in order to perpetuate his own existence. But...you appear to be different."

"I do? How?"

"I can see it." Egil looked up at Shulk. "You were tempted, that much is clear. But you still retained your sense of self, did not let yourself become overtaken by his soul in the heat of the moment. Perhaps...you _can_ break the curse of Zanza." He then looked down at Melia. "And was that not precisely our wish? Lady Meyneth?"

The relief Melia felt was now also her own. Not only did Egil now accept she had possession of Meyneth, he seemed to believe in the goddess again. She felt a nod was appropriate.

"I don't know about a curse," Shulk said sheepishly. "But I can offer you what you want: for us to live in peace again."

Melia suddenly felt something trigger in her mind. She turned to see Vanea and Dickson standing exactly where she somehow expected them to be.

 _This...this is just like the strange dream from last night._ She turned to face forward again, relief replaced by anxiety. Was it really going to happen? _...no. Dickson has no motive to shoot Shulk, especially in our moment of victory. Shoot Egil perhaps, given his stated distrust of letting him live, but that's a very difficult angle to attempt. What if he aims for Egil but misses? That could explain Shulk being hit, but he didn't seem perturbed at all by it._

Egil answered. "Again? I see. Yes, you're right." He started to get up.

Melia turned to face Dickson again. He already had his Sabre raised, pointing towards the two atop Yaldabaoth - it was impossible to tell who exactly he was aiming at. She had enough time to stop or at least hinder him - but would her taking action be the cause of him hitting Shulk by mistake?

Before she could decide what to do about it, he caught her eye and huffed. Then he fired.

Shulk spasmed and clutched his chest, looking back at about the same time as everyone else.

"You shouldn't have done that, little brat." There was no hint of error or regret. He'd hit his intended target.

Shulk started to fall. Egil caught him in Yaldabaoth's free hand and lowered him to the floor as Sharla rushed to him.

Melia had two options. She could go help Sharla with Shulk, or she could help the others exact revenge on Dickson. She quickly decided that she could get revenge later but might have to help Shulk immediately, so she hurried over to him and Sharla.

"Dickson, why?" Dunban hollered.

"Are you completely insane, you old coot?" Reyn agreed.

Dickson rubbed his head as he wearily stepped forward. "Don't you kids ever shut up? I'm just doing my job. As always."

"This doesn't make any sense," Sharla muttered as Melia arrived, trying to keep Shulk's twitching torso still. "Went right at his heart but there's no more bleeding than a heavy nosebleed, and there's no exit wound. No sign of lung trouble or anything, there's nothing to heal but some tissue damage. But he's still going crazy."

Egil appeared to realize something. "It's...It's you!"

"Yeh, it's me," Dickson drawled, half amused and half disinterested. "Good on you to remember. Been too long, eh?"

"Here." Melia summoned an aqua into her staff and lowered it close to Shulk's torso. The injury vanished very quickly, but Shulk continued to have intensifying spasms as his ether signature morphed through dozens of intricate patterns. Sharla was right - this didn't look remotely like a gunshot wound. Something else was going on.

"How could you know each other?" Dunban demanded.

"He is Zanza's... _disciple_ ," Egil spat in disgust. "He-"

"Ah, shut it you old rust bucket," Dickson interrupted. "You're old news now. Now, it's finally time for Lord Zanza's return!"

Shulk's vibrating body started to glow. As it brightened, he also began floating.

Melia felt a need to get away from Shulk before something bad happened. She really didn't want to, but it would be foolish to ignore such an instinct, so she backed away quickly yet carefully. Sharla took the unspoken advice and did the same.

The energy quickly reached a tipping point and released a shockwave that would probably have hurt a fair bit if they were still too close. Even at the distance they had retreated to, they were both knocked to the floor.

Egil raised Yaldabaoth's hand, charging an ether attack with newfound vigour. "Zanza! I won't let you do this!" He threw the energy ball at Shulk's floating body.

Shulk appeared to be standing up now, though he was clearly still unconscious. As Egil's attack approached, his arm lifted up to meet it, absorbing and refiring an amplified energy ball back at its creator.

"Brother!" Vanea shouted as Yaldabaoth collapsed down to the floor below.

The light around Shulk was blinding now. It almost looked like he was both standing still and wobbling back and forth at the same time.

The ether around Shulk was roiling, twisting, being torn asunder and reforming all at once. Melia looked away from the painful brightness, but couldn't shut her ethersense off from the violent turbulence. It was both pleasantly hypnotic and profoundly disturbing, as if his very matter was being ripped apart and realigned.

Suddenly there were two Shulks. One of them was still glowing brightly and had taken hold of the Monado, while a second fell out of the light and crumpled to the floor.

Melia gasped. Up until now she didn't fear much for Shulk's survival; the gunshot wound was too minimal to be troubling, and while the whole glowing and floating business was frightening, it didn't seem exactly life-threataning. But now it was very hard to feel the difference between Shulk's fallen body and the inert metal floor around him. The new being was bright enough to somewhat wash out her ethersense, but there was still no question that if Shulk was not dead, it would take a miracle for him to stay that way.

Egil scowled. "So this is the supposed true Zanza."

"Do not be surprised." As he began to float upwards and sprout aesthetic glowing appendages, Zanza spoke as if he was surrounded by idiots. "Everything in this world is dictated by the passage of fate. As all that exists is interconnected, time can flow only towards the inevitable. That is the vision of which I, the Monado, am the origin. That which will be, will be. This was all predestined. Ever since I came to reside within Shulk."

"You mean, at Prison Island?" asked Sharla.

"Close, but no cigar." Dickson puffed his own cigar. "That was just Zanza's body the High Entia locked up in Prison Island. They took his soul, the Monado, and threw it in that tower in the mountains. Apparently they couldn't keep him tied down without splitting him up. So all we needed to do to set him free was to bring the two back together again."

"So..." Dunban thought for a second. "When Shulk brought the Monado to Zanza at Prison Island-"

"Bingo. In his own castle, despite the king's men, Zanza was put back together again." A self-amused chuckle at the rhyme. "He had to spend a bit recovering from the whole thing, of course, but I'd say he's right on time. I love it when a plan comes together."

"Plan?" questioned Dunban. "How long-"

"Stop talking and start thinking, you might get somewhere." Dickson smirked and continued just as it looked like a response was coming. "You think it was just coincidence I decided to wander off for a jaunt in the mountains fourteen years ago? You think those Homs at the ruins were there by accident? You think it was a miracle that the one kid survived for me to bring back?"

"You planned all this when you found Shulk?"

"Jackpot. In fact, there never was anyone called Shulk to begin with!"

Melia was idly sitting on the ground, her focus more on Shulk than the discussion around her, willing herself to sense any sort of activity from his body that would indicate he was still alive. It almost felt like there was something, the tiniest flicker of a hint, but it was so weak it could just be an insect or something.

"My soul existed inside the Monado," Zanza continued. "It was fated that I be released. It was shown to me in a vision. At last the time finally came. And then..."

"A bunch of Homs showed up to the tower," Dickson went on. "They freed the Monado, which ended Zanza's slumber. He sucked the lives from them so he could live, even Shulk."

"What?" blurted Reyn. "Shulk was already dead?! How'd that explain him walkin' around for the last fourteen years then?"

"You grew up with an empty shell. He appeared to live because I became his life force. That is until he had matured as my new vessel and become worthy of wielding the Monado, allowing me to truly awaken and finally return."

"Lord Zanza might be the soul of the Bionis, but he still needs a living body. Just like Meyneth over there." Dickson tapped his cigar in Melia's direction.

 _...He knows._ Melia immediately thought back to the fight against the Apocrypha Generator - she did speak Meyneth's name aloud in the discussion afterward. _And by my own blunder, no less. Unless he suspected it all along, and that is why he was interested in the chestpiece to begin with.  
_

"But why Shulk?" Sharla asked. "How many others were at the tower, and the _child_ was picked?"

"There was no particular reason," Zanza claimed. "Shulk merely happened to be there at the time."

"There it is," Dickson said as he wandered forward. "Anybody would've done, 's'long as they could swing a sword around."

Melia didn't buy it. Given how important each member of this party was to the overall effort against the Mechon, it was hard to believe any of this could have happened in a remotely similar way had he selected to inhabit someone else. If he could indeed see the future, he definitely had a reason for selecting Shulk.

"So...the way Shulk could use the Monado..." Dunban started.

"And those visions he kept getting to save us!" Reyn added.

"All because of Lord Zanza." Dickson tossed his cigar down next to Shulk. "He sees the passage of fate. He knows what's going to happen. So he led you right to where he wanted it all to go. The destruction of Colony 9, the death of that pompous old High Entia fool, and that grunt Gadolt's miserable demise. All of it!"

Up until now, Melia was simply distraught over the terrible events that had just transpired, primarily hoping that Shulk would be okay and assuming the next challenge would be to fight their new foes. But with this last statement, her focus snapped from Shulk's body to Dickson's ugly mug.

Dickson was already a traitor. He'd been trusted by the group from Colony 9 for their entire lives, and by most others who had met him along the way, only for him to reveal that he'd had a hidden agenda against them the entire time. That by itself was bad enough to deserve him an eternity in the lowest hells.

But he wasn't stopping there. He was not only gloating about his efforts, but putting in extra effort to make it personal, bragging about how Zanza orchestrated deaths close to the people present. And he wasn't just bringing it up to laugh about it - he was _reveling_ in it, to try and rile them up and get under their skin. He _enjoyed_ the casual disregard for other peoples' lives, property, and loved ones.

Perhaps he thought no one would have the guts to call him out on it, or that Shulk lying motionless would ruin everyone's morale. But he was a traitor enjoying his reveal, and there was no greater injustice than to simply allow him to gloat.

Melia leapt to her feet and dashed forward in one motion, her thoughts moving faster than her legs. All the times the others had reaffirmed to her their decades-long trust in Dickson flooded to mind, countered by the revelation that he had been planning to shoot Shulk since the day they had met. Fattening him up for slaughter by helping him in the lab with the Monado. Providing the group with anti-Mechon weapons to help them reach Egil. Representing Colony 9 in the allied force to ensure he knew the timeline of their approach, and get access to a Havres so he could join them at the right moment.

She pulled her arms back. There was no word in Common to convey what she truly thought of him, so she settled for the first thing that came to mind.

"You _evil **knob!**_ "

Dickson raised his weapon, but while he managed to knock Melia down to the ground with its blunt side, it was too slow to stop the tip of the Imperial Staff from ripping across his face. A huge bloody scar opened up from under his eye to across his nose and over his cheek.

"Nnnneeergh." He clutched his face with his free hand, which glowed with a faint purple energy.

Melia stood up and shook a few drops of blood off the untarnishable staff. "Traitors are not welcome in my world."

" _Your_ world?" Zanza laughed. "This world is of _my_ creation. And in it, it is beings like _you_ who are the traitors - especially you yourself."

Dickson shook his head and took his hand off his face. The scar across his face was no longer bleeding, but remained a stark new feature.

"You're damn lucky I have an agreement, princess," he growled, "or you'd be just as dead as your buddy Shulk right now."

"An agreement?" Melia's mind moved at lightning speed. "You've forged a pact with another traitor over who gets to kill each one of us."

"Ah, not far from the truth, nice and perceptive of you. Pity it won't help you figure who it is before it's too late."

Melia motioned to the others to approach. "It is not too late. We will combat you and Zanza, and upon defeating you render your threat moot."

The rest of the party started to climb out of their disbelief and gear back up for battle.

Zanza appeared unconcerned. "You have no hope of defeating me. Even were it not for the fact I am a god, I have an army."

"We have a Shulk."

Dickson rolled his eyes, scowling. "Pfeh. You _had_ a Shulk."

"That is immaterial." Melia continued to stare straight ahead at their new adversaries. "Whether he survives this ordeal or not, it is thanks to him that we all stand here today, prepared to fight you or anyone who threatens our existence."

The ghost of a smirk crawled across Zanza's face. "How will your friends have time for _me_ , if they are too busy fighting _you_?"

He raised his free hand like a conductor demanding more volume. A fluidic cloud of pure ether rose up from the ground and swirled tightly around Melia. The others were frightened, but knew it wasn't safe to try and intervene.

Melia lost all contact with the outside world; her eyes, ears, and ethersense were all blocked out by the turbulent green substance. But it was actually quite comfortable - it felt warm and cozy, like settling into bed with extra blankets on a cool night. Furthermore, she could feel the ether seeping through her, loosening her tightnesses and recharging her spirit. After a bit, she felt quite reinvigorated and newly full of energy, perhaps more so than any time in recent memory. Zanza was obviously trying to inflict some sort of pain or torture upon her, but it was clearly backfiring.

After a full minute, Zanza's smirk turned into a scowl as he dropped his hand, vanishing the ether and revealing Melia to be just the same as before, only covered in a latent glow.

"Worthless half-breeds," he muttered. "I am forced to admit disappointment; your raw ether attenuation would render you the greatest individual in my entire army. But no matter. If you will not join me, I will eliminate you."

"Bit rude of you," fired Reyn. "You've already got your own body again, what d'you need to kill us for?"

"All life that is born from me must be returned to me eventually to complete the cycle. For me to continue my existence as before, then all must be restored to its former order."

"And guess what that means?" Dickson scoffed. "He's gotta kill everything that exists so he can start it all back up again. An endless cycle."

"First we must eliminate my greatest obstacle. You, Meyneth. The Mechonis!"

Zanza made the Monado glow. It wasn't clear what it was doing for a moment, but then there was a great noise from the east.

"Is..." Sharla was the first to turn and look. "The Bionis is moving!"

It was true. The Bionis was stretching out its arms and back, eyes glowing.

"Nonono!" Riki blubbered and fumbled. "B-Bionis spill sea all over village! N-Not g-good at all!"

"No, Riki, everything shall be fine," Melia half-muttered. There was no reason to get into the complex details of the Bionis' skeletal ether right now - just the assurance that most areas of the titan wouldn't feel more than a moderate earthquake was enough.

"I've been waiting." Egil was suddenly roused from idleness. "Waiting for this day, Zanza!"

Mechonis followed Yaldabaoth and brought its sword towards the Bionis. It blocked the strike with its arm without much apparent effort.

"Stop, brother!" Vanea cried. "You cannot succeed! You're too weak!"

"I don't care. If I eliminate Zanza, my life's purpose is complete. As long as he lives, there can be no peace for us, of either world!"

The glow around Zanza intensified for a moment. "Then you shall cease to exist, by the wrath of my blade!"

There was a flash, knocking back Yaldabaoth somewhat. But more importantly, it caused the Monado to transform into a much thicker sword, symmetrical and covered in spindles at various angles. As its blue light formed an energy blade around the spindles, a similar light began to grow out of the Bionis' right hand.

"You think you know anything of wrath?!" Egil brought his sword towards Zanza, the Mechonis matching his exact motion.

Both Monados blocked the incoming blades. As they clashed, cracks began to form in the metallic swords.

"What?!" Egil was at a loss as to whether he should push back or give ground.

Zanza didn't let him choose. "It's finished!" He sliced clean through the now-broken swords.

There was a blinding flash of light as the Bionis' blade tore through the Mechonis' head, cutting Yaldabaoth in half and exposing the core to open air.

Melia felt a wave of nausea as the titan's Monado passed by. It was far enough away when first summoned to not be much more than a bright spot to her ethersense, but for the unimaginably powerful object to pass so close by was sickeningly overbearing.

"No! Brother!" Vanea ran towards where Egil was falling.

"Why?!" Reyn hollered. "Egil 'n' Shulk had made peace!"

Zanza turned slowly and lazily. "Meaningless sentiment."

"How could you do this?!" yelled Sharla.

"It is from me that all life is born." A sphere of yellow energy surrounded the party, full of a stormy ambience. "It lives only for me. And it shall be returned!"

Zanza raised his Monado, the Bionis doing the same.

The situation seemed quite bleak. Everyone was trapped in the energy sphere, siphoning away their ability to escape it.

Meyneth's chestplate began to glow. Melia tried to ignore the world crashing down around her and strained to figure out whatever she had to do for it.

It felt like...she had to reach in and pull something out.

Following her instinct, Melia closed her eyes and reached towards the chestplate. Instead of touching its metal face, she could feel something that was more like a handle.

The next action was taken without thought. Dropping the Imperial Staff, she took the handle within her with both hands and pulled something out before jumping towards Zanza, using it to block the attack he was dropping down on them.

There was a huge clash, unleashing a massive blast of light and sound. The trapping sphere, already with a gash down the middle from Melia's quick exit, was completely blown away. Melia remained hanging in the air, pushing against Zanza's Monado through nothing but sheer force of will.

"So you have finally unleashed your Monado," Zanza mused, to himself more than the person facing him. "And there was me thinking you would die with dignity."

Melia finally opened her eyes to have a look at what she was using to hold off the evil god.

It was clearly an ether staff. Turquoise with magenta detailing and bathed in a soft red glow, the bulky head featured the same inverted triangle as the chestplate itself, bracketed by two grey sides coming to a point at the top with three extra points jutted outwards and forwards, resembling a shrunken-down version of the Mechonis' sword. The handle was hexagonal and beveled, capped at the bottom with a trident-like feature. It felt composed of a dense and solid metal, yet seemed just as light as the Imperial Staff now sitting abandoned on the ground.

Now that she had Meyneth's weapon in hand, her feelings came through much stronger and more detailed. They were complex and emotional, and difficult to understand given everything else that was going on in the two minds at the moment. But it was clear that Meyneth wanted something to be said.

"Meyneth has realized that she has no right to control the futures of those she has created. You would do well to learn the same." She pushed off the contact with Zanza, forcing herself back down to the floor.

Zanza let himself float down to equal footing. "I trust no words from your foul mouth. They are as meaningless as the life you led. Only a god's words are worthy of my attention."

Melia considered whether it was worth attempting to say anything more if Zanza was just going to ignore anything that Meyneth had to filter through someone else. She decided she might as well finish the thought. "If you truly believe that your life is greater than that of everyone else's, then she will do everything in our power to resist you. We will fight for the futures of all in this world!"

Her first move was to summon an earth elemental for defending against the new Monado's surely devatasting attacks. But as she concentrated on the feeling necessary to do so, she could feel Meyneth's staff interfering, directing her earthly energy into doing something else. After completing the summoning, she looked up to find not an orange cube of protection above her, but a sandstorm swirling around her.

Melia found the development quite curious, but decided to work with it - she didn't need to continually focus her mind on keeping the sandstorm active like she did a proper elemental, so she could freely summon more without limit. Next she focused on ice, trying to do it as usual but expecting something different to happen. A hail of icy pellets joined the sandstorm, forming a large cloud of detritus that would surely cause significant damage to anything that tried to get close.

Zanza's body language made it clear he was originally going to dash in for a quick strike, but seeing the swirl of sharp particles gave him pause. Presumably he was unfamiliar with what was going on and wished to observe before making a better decision.

The pattern continued. Quickly moving through her elementals, Melia brought forth a swirling updraft of wind beneath herself, not only making her lighter on her feet but pushing the radius of her swirling protection outwards. Adding water to the mix produced a comfortable spray of droplets both cool and warm to the touch, dry enough to not be a distraction but wet enough to produce a continuous healing effect. A flare set the head of the staff alight, and finally a bolt of lightning charged the entire staff with electricity. Instead of producing six team-boosting elementals, the staff had redirected the energy into six personal beneficial auras - which would certainly be more useful for the upcoming one-on-one fight.

Zanza remained at a distance, not yet sure how to initiate against his opponent's new defenses.

"Not so confident in a _fair_ fight, then?" Melia tried a few experimental staff swings, the head leaving a spiralling trail of flame through the air. "Your bluster does not impress me. Speak with your actions, not your inflated claims of self-importance. If you truly _were_ a god, why have you not already destroyed me?"

"Cease your questions!" Zanza snarled and turned the Monado over in his hand. "If it is obliteration you seek, then I shall deliver!"

He finally leapt into action, taking a large jumping slash. Melia stepped aside as little as was safe to ensure he passed through as much of her storm of particles as possible, before countering with a quick staff jab. The attack's connection triggered an electrical discharge on contact, freezing both parties in place for a split second while also sending a surge through Zanza's body. She managed to get another two hits in before Zanza could parry one, the recoil sending both twisting backward.

 _There's got to be more I can do with this staff than just physical combat._ Melia made a prodding motion into the air, which fired a bolt of lightning straight forward. She tried it again but instead got a beam of light that pierced through what it struck, and a third attempt resulted in a slow-moving glob of darkness energy that appeared to be formed of fluidic tendrils. _I don't have time to be learning how this staff works, I need consistency._

Zanza cut the darkness blob out of the air as it approached and stepped back into melee range, performing a series of attacks. Melia didn't have much problem blocking them, but couldn't find an opening to counter-attack. She didn't mind too much, as the constant electrical discharges as the weapons clashed seemed to only be damaging her opponent, and the storms around her would eventually force Zanza to do something else.

After about a minute of being battered by the auras, Zanza retreated to reconsider his strategy, raising the yellow hexagons of Monado Shield around himself.

Melia couldn't help but scoff. "Some god you are if you can't even remember how your Monado functions." She swung the staff upwards, forming a crescent of fire that went straight through the barrier and exploded. _If this staff keeps my elementals inaccessible, I don't have a talent art for Monado Shield to block. Unless it provides one?_

Zanza scowled and made his own upwards slice, creating a green crescent of energy that soared towards his enemy.

Melia recognized the attack as Monado Purge, which she knew was unavoidable. She swiped her staff downwards at the same angle to try and parry it.

But while the action successfully blocked the projectile and spared her from injury, it didn't stop its primary effect from triggering. A faint green cloud burst out of the point of contact and quickly wrapped around her. In an instant, all the elemental effects that had surrounded her had dissipated to nothing.

Melia suddenly felt like she was wearing several thick coats on the hottest summer day. All the ether that had been flowing freely through the elemental auras was now trapped in her body, rolling and churning at high pressure trying to escape the seal. Her vision and balance both quickly began to deteriorate.

Desperately seeking an outlet, she mindlessly tried to summon a bolt. It wouldn't have worked anyway, but at least it would have given a tolerable focus to her inner turmoil - yet Meyneth's staff kept trying to convert it into an aura, only making the feeling worse. She stumbled sideways and fell down, head spinning like mad. If only she had even one elemental already active, she could discharge it and convert at least some of the energy into part of her burst aura, which due to familiarity was significantly more tolerable when restrained. But as things stood, she had no recourse.

Zanza stood still and laughed, clearly playing with his food. " _This_ is your chosen emissary, Meyneth? A _mortal_ from _my_ realm who clearly cannot handle the power of a god?"

"I...I..." Melia retched but held back her upset stomach. She knew Monado Purge wouldn't last forever - she just had to hold out until it faded. Appealing to Zanza's apparent desire to gloat and string things along was her best chance. "I don't... _need_...a goddess's power...to resist you!"

"Silence, girl! I want to hear Meyneth herself admit defeat. Or can she not even do that in her pitiful state?"

Melia felt a fuzzy thought float by her dizzy vision. She strained to focus on it, seeing a dim shape with a staff making a sort of fanning motion. The movement repeated itself a few times - it felt like Meyneth was trying to tell her something.

"We...shall do...no such thing!" Melia swung Meyneth's staff overhead as if she were trying to cast off a blanket. A gleaming white energy flowed out of its head and swirled around her, casting off the suffocating sealing ether and forming a faint bubble. She recognised the ether as very similar to that of Sharla's Cure Bullet - her guess was that she'd found the staff's talent art, and it was some sort of cleanser. Feeling much better, she stood back up and prepared to start fighting once more.

Zanza didn't waste any more time in approaching to continue his attack, not giving his opponent any time to set up. Melia didn't have much trouble defending, but being without any time to generate her offensive tools meant it was all she could do. She knew she'd be the first one to tire if this continued - something had to change.

Unfortunately, she didn't get to decide what to change. Zanza crouched down and unleashed a huge uppercut slice, launching her a significant distance straight up into the air.

Melia reoriented herself upright and attempted to resummon the red antigravity bubble from when they had fallen from Agniratha. Instead, her body started to glow with the same faint aura of the staff, which had the same effect of halting her movement in midair. It felt about the same as when she first pulled out the staff and was floating with weapons clashed - she figured it must grant a limited degree of hovering abilities.

Zanza quickly gave chase, flying directly at her with Monado extended. Melia blocked it but was sent reeling in the opposite direction a significant distance before she was able to reassert control over her aerial movement.

"This is it?" he chided. "How can you call yourself a god when your vessel is this inept at handling your powers?" He chased again and attacked a few more times, knocking her about with little resistance. Eventually he knocked her towards the back wall of the core and pinned her against it.

"And you talk of sharing this world with me?!"

Rapidly losing patience with his attitude, Melia awkwardly bent her arm around to pop him in the head with the staff. "Don't touch me, heathen. Crawl back into the netherworld from whence you came, and leave us be."

Zanza glanced down far below to where all the others were standing. "So that's why. The dead boy is important to you."

"Important?!" Something Reyn once said jumped into Melia's mind, and she grabbed it. "Shulk is more than important. He's the reason we're here. Have you been willfully ignoring the world around you the entire time you were cowering within him?"

"The Homs are nothing but _bacteria_ clinging to my body!"

"Bacteria are a critical asset to the livelihood of all known organisms. You admitted yourself that your survival is dependent on us! We are living beings as much as you are. No god would be so ignorant of reality to claim otherwise."

"And who decides that? A god. Because only a god may decide." Zanza leaned in closer; the similarity between his face and Shulk's was disturbing. "This world only needs one god, Meyneth."

"Tell me when you find him then." Melia spit in his face.

Zanza angrily picked Melia off the wall and threw her down to the floor like a meteor. She stopped her momentum before crashing into Shulk's body and decided to slop floating.

"Face me like a god," Zanza shouted from above, raising the Monado. "If not, then say goodbye to your putrid friends!"

A huge cross of energy appeared in the sky and began swiftly descending.

Melia could feel Meyneth's desire to block the incoming attack, so she stood ready and prepared to use Reflection, assuming it would be powered up just as it had against Jade Face.

Instead, she suddenly developed a massive headache.

 _What are you-_

Time suddenly slowed to a near standstill. The entire world was coated in a dull red haze, making everything seem monochromatic and lifeless.

Not knowing how long this would last, Melia battled the headache and remained ready to defend against the still slowly-advancing attack. Presumably Meyneth was doing something new - how many tricks did she have left?

"Melia." Meyneth's voice, louder and clearer than ever, spoke out of nowhere into the dead silence of the near-frozen world. "This is where I must leave you. Take what remains of my power - I have no more need of it. I have faith you and your friends will end our cycle of suffering."

Before Melia could truly parse the words, the universe was replaced with pain. Searing, tearing, all-encompassing pain. As if the ether all around suddenly grew chainsaw teeth and drilling thorns, as if an entire titan's worth of matter was squeezing her body from all sides, as if every fibre of reality were escalated to absolute hot and wrapped airtight around and through every piece of her.

The rest of the party saw a highly conflicting sight - an unfamiliar Machina woman wearing a dress appeared out of Melia's body and obstructed Zanza's attack, causing it to stop in midair in front of her, while Melia dropped to the floor and uncontrollably flailed about, screaming louder than anyone had ever heard a person scream.

Meyneth waited about five seconds for Melia's screaming to taper off before speaking. "This is what I wish. This world belongs to you all. Create a world...with no need for gods."

There was a flash of light. Meyneth vanished, along with the attack Zanza had launched. Only her ether staff remained, slowly tumbling through the air.

Egil attempted to catch the falling staff, but before it reached Yaldabaoth's extended hand, it flew back upwards towards Zanza. As he caught it, it instantly transformed into a full-sized sword of similar features and colour that greatly resembled the Mechonis'.

Zanza looked at the second Monado with glee and greed. "This is the passage of fate!" He floated upwards and vanished.

Sharla dashed forward and kneeled down beside Melia. "Melia, are you alright? What happened?"

Breathing heavily, Melia slowly took her hand off her chest to inspect it. The triangular patch of skin that had housed Meyneth's chestplate was seared and blistered by a huge amount of ether energy, marking a large chunk of flesh that looked like a very severe sunburn. It was not permanent damage, but if left untreated it would take several days if not weeks to fully heal. There had been no such issues when Meyneth left her yesterday evening - she must have had to depart too quickly to give herself a clean exit.

She rubbed her neck to check her other affected area. Aside from a miniscule dimple in the back that could very well be imagined, there were no other symptoms of Meyneth's hasty parting.

"I am alright," she responded. "The pain does not linger." She slowly got to her feet, disgusted at the current state of her chest - High Entia didn't sunburn, so to have such a large and severe case of a similar ailment was appalling, and while she disliked her own body and appearance she hated them being torn up even more.

"Look!" Dunban pointed across the sea towards the Bionis' head, where a large plume of etheral light was shining up from somewhere in Eryth Sea. "What's happening now?"

There were some explosions around the core, presumably from chaotic feedback of the Mechonis' damaged systems.

Melia looked towards the inner edge to see that Vanea was perched there, probably talking with Egil down below, her words muted at this distance by the surrounding explosions. She decided to approach.

"...can't win!" Vanea was saying. "If you don't come with us-"

"I'm not finished yet," Egil interrupted. "I have to be prepared to face the Monado again. Lady Meyneth entrusted me to."

"Brother, don't say that!"

Melia reached forward to put a hand on Vanea's shoulder, eliciting a look of surprise.

"He has made his decision," she said. "We are in no position to question it."

Vanea looked to Egil and then back again, before opening her mouth to argue.

Melia cut her off. "Older brothers are a stubborn species, and this one has proven himself to be quite resourceful in his determination. Would you rather work with him, or try yet again to work against him?"

There was no response from Vanea.

Instead, Egil answered. "Go now! Do not let the last glimmer of hope be extinguished - you must ensure that Shulk survives!"

Melia turned to see that Reyn had picked up Shulk and was carrying him towards the transporter, where the others were also converging towards. The flurry of recent events had mostly pushed Shulk's condition out of her mind - seeing him limp and etherless yanked her back to a painful reality where in all likelihood he was already dead.

Dunban waved for them to join. "We have to get back to Junks while we still can!"

Melia started to follow. She wanted to try and keep her mind busy, so she formed a quick plan of what to do next - ask Miqol if he could send Junks to Alcamoth so she could have her chest treated, and have Shulk looked at as well. Then perhaps the next step could be-

She looked around in sudden realization that something was amiss.

 _Where did Dickson go? I don't recall seeing him present as I battled Zanza - how long ago did he leave? Surely not long enough to have taken Junks away without us, and Miqol would surely not accept him claiming to be the only survivor._

As the group hurried back from where they came, Melia's thoughts continued to focus.

 _...Dickson. The traitor. Betraying everyone he's ever known on both worlds for a false god. Killing his own adopted son and gloating about it. Worming his way into the allied force to carry out his plans._

 _Death is too good for him. He will simply fall to the hells below the horizon without repercussions from those he has wronged. No; first we must make him suffer. Him, Zanza, and whoever the other traitor is. If there even is only one other.  
_

 _That scar on his face is only the begininng.  
_


	13. Destiny

Junks was already halfway out of the Mechonis before Reyn got Shulk to the medical lab.

"Have at 'im, docs." He carefully put Shulk on a bed and stepped away.

Linada gave Shulk a quick go-over. "He doesn't seem in any difficulty aside from simply being unconscious. What happened?"

"That's a little hard to explain," Dunban said. "I don't think we truly understand it. But what we saw was a powerful being escape his body."

"After he was shot," added Sharla. "But it was a nothing shot, we had it healed in a minute, that's not the problem."

"Then I'm not sure I have any help to provide." Linada looked at some of the more detailed scans. "There's nothing wrong with him physically. He has ether deficiency, yes, but we don't have the right supplies here to cure it in a Homs. And while we can't be sure it's the only problem at this stage, it is the only one we can find at the moment."

"But you can keep it from getting worse, right?" asked Reyn.

Linada nodded. "Of course. We can't say anything about his recovery right now, but he will live."

Melia, standing a little further back than the others, didn't share their relief. The lack of ether in Shulk's body was so stark and extreme he felt as lifeless as the reflection in a mirror. She'd seen three family members die in the last fifty years - mother, aunt, and father - and Shulk felt just as empty as they did mere moments after death. The fact that he was still breathing didn't do anything to make her feel better - rather, it made him seem unnaturally undead.

"Now, what happened to you, Melia?" Linada had moved her attention to her. "I see that Lady Meyneth has left you behind, and left quite a mess in her wake."

Melia scowled as she looked down at her torn-up chest. "Indeed. She had to vacate my body too quickly to do so without inflicting these ether burns."

"Ether burns." Linada turned away to search through a few drawers. "I believe...hm...perhaps...no, I'm afraid I don't have anything to treat organic burns."

"I wouldn't expect so. That's why we've already requested Miqol take us to Alcamoth, where the top doctors will be able to treat us."

"A good instinct."

There was a great rumbling and grinding from outside, followed by a huge crash from above. The titans were fighting once more.

Dunban hurried towards the exit. "Let's get to the bridge, we'll be able to see what's going on from there."

Most of the party followed Dunban out of the medical lab. But Melia stayed put, remaining motionless.

Riki turned around. "Why Melly scared about Shulk? Linada say Shulk fine, so no need to worrywart."

"Don't you feel it, Riki? The emptiness within him?"

"Only thing Riki feels is Melly's scaredy-ness." Riki hopped up onto the nearest table. "Riki knows how it feel to stand near deep friend when they in hospital. More than one of Riki's littlepon find way to make rest of family worry as bad as if chief say no food today. But one thing Riki learn is that there no need to worry if doctor does not worry. Doctor is life expert on life. Why question expert?"

Normally, Riki's tales and advice would calm Melia down or make her laugh. But this time, all she could do was sigh. "As correct as you may be, this is no ordinary situation."

"True, true." Riki floated back down to the floor. "If Melly feels better staying here while friends watch outside, that her choice."

Melia didn't budge as Riki hurried away to catch up with the others. She didn't particularly _want_ to know what was going on outside between the titans at the moment - she'd had quite enough of the world being turned on its head for one day.

Linada cautiously edged into her vision. "Would you like a seat?"

"No thank you." It was an automatic, thoughtless response.

"I will leave you be then." Linada retreated to the far part of the room, away from both Melia and Shulk, and started working on something.

Half of Melia wanted to approach Shulk, to get as close as possible to see if she could feel the tiniest spark of life in his body. But the other half wanted to remain firmly at a distance, to remain unsure instead of risking confirming the opposite. It was mercifully difficult to do much deep thinking; massive blasts of noise continued to rain down from outside as the blindingly bright ether of the Bionis' Monado swirled across the sky.

Then it became quiet. The Monado began to fade. Someone screamed something from the direction of the bridge.

 _The Mechonis is defeated,_ Melia presumed. _Junks is likely too small a target for the Bionis itself, so we will be safe for now. Zanza will have to deploy conventional measures to attack us furth..._

Something was fighting out of the back of her mind. It took a few moments to reach clarity, but once it did, the realization was instant.

 _Telethia. That's what he'll do, just as he attacked Agniratha in the beginning, send scores of Telethia at his enemy. That would explain the green light we saw atop the Bionis' head._ Panic suddenly set in. _I must warn the others. Alcamoth is no longer an easy safe haven - it is his first target._

Melia ran out of the medical lab, considering what to do now. On one hand, the allied force was likely still stationed at the Valak Mountain retreat point, so the city was mostly defenceless. On the other hand, perhaps Alcamoth was still the best option to dock in terms of medical attention, and the force was unprepared for Telethia in any case.

She slowed down as she approached the main deck, sensing something strange approaching from outside. Stopping and turning to focus on it, she felt a huge mob of little children flying through the air towards Junks.

 _They're here. They've already chased us down._ Telethia had effectively the same ether signature as a young High Entia, which was what allowed them to slip though Alcamoth's defences so easily during the occasional times they escaped the Bionis' interior. It was easy enough to minimize the weird disconnect when actively fighting one, but to sense a large crowd of them in this way was very jarring, especially without yet seeing them.

The rest of the party dashed through the corridor below towards the deck outside. Reyn turned to climb upwards, but when he saw Melia he instead waved her to follow and continued on his way.

 _I hope no one has any delusion we can withstand these Telethia by ourselves._ Melia followed, more panicked than ever. The party had enough trouble with the two Telethia from before, and that was with Shulk's help.

The group exited onto the deck. The green cloud that formed the Telethia horde was already quite close and appeared to have at least a hundred members of varying subspecies - many of the smaller bipedal variants, but a fair amount of the larger varieties.

Melia's immediate instinct was that they were dead, plain and simple. She never feared the Mechon much, what with her skillset being very effective against them, and while the various Faces did bring a few near-death experiences, there was always the sense that they were beatable. But a single Telethia took the entire resources of the party of six to simply contest on even terms. Sure, their battle prowess had grown a fair bit since the last one, but without Shulk's visions and Monado Purge to cover the downtime between Melia's Mind Blasts, it probably didn't even matter. And unlike Egil, who appeared to have a flair for drama and respect for his opponents in battle, Telethia were mindless beasts that could not be reasoned with. They did appear reasonably tamed, approaching in an orderly fashion instead of a chaotic mess, but defeating their leader wouldn't do much to lessen their threat.

She thought of one bit of hope - Junks' main weapon. Telethia fresh out of the Bionis wouldn't have any experience reading the minds of Machina, and past anecdotal evidence suggested they were poor at connecting pilot thoughts to vessel movements, so it stood to reason they wouldn't have much defense against the powerful ether laser. The limiting factor would probably be its recharge rate, which she didn't know. The question was whether Miqol would think about firing on the Telethia by himself, or whether someone would have to go suggest it to him.

One of the larger Telethia, snake-like in shape, broke out of the group and sped towards the ship, rising up from underneath.

 _Look who it is._ It wasn't hard for Melia to sense that Dickson was riding the incoming Telethia just before he appeared over the deck and jumped down. _Come to gloat some more, have you?_

"You're not getting away!" Despite the fresh scar from earlier, Dickson had a massive slimy grin on his face. "It's all over, you know. Why don't you just keep things orderly and return to the Bionis, nice and easy-like?"

"That's enough!" Dunban yelled. "What's happened to you?! You were like a father to Shulk!"

"Don't let Zanza control you, Dickson!" Sharla called. "Wake up!"

Dickson's smile faded into a tired snarl. "You can quit your bellyaching. This is who I am. Who I've always been, for longer than any of you lot have ever known!"

"And for not much longer." Melia extended the Imperial Staff and tried to shut out the surrounding Telethia from her mind. "For if there is only one more thing we can do in this life, it is to toss you down into the endless sea below!"

"I'd like to see you try, princess!" He jumped back up onto the Telethia. "You'll need to get by the cavalry here first!"

Melia reached deep into her soul to try and drum up enough fury and vengence to fire a Mind Blast without first having to build up a burst aura. But she didn't quite get there; the driving emotions were too hampered by worry over Shulk's condition and anxiety over the scores of Telethia coming to kill them. It would have to be done the hard way, by building up the aura from scratch as fast as possible without making herself a target.

The ensuing battle went poorly. As Melia expected, the party simply didn't have the resources to hold off a large Telethia long enough for her to do her job. The creature bashed and battered the group around Junks' deck with little effective resistance, with Dickson taunting them the whole time.

"You waste of space!" He amused himself by intentionally missing potshots at the floor around Dunban. "Gave all your heroism to Shulk, eh, stupid beast? Got tired of doing it all yourself? It wasn't _all_ by yourself, of course. I was such a grand buddy of yours, wasn't I? Got you out of the tight spots when you really needed it, joined you in the victory parties afterward. Weren't they great?"

Dunban pounded his weapon on the floor, struggling to stand. "I'll kill you!"

"Come and get me then!" Dickson mockingly beckoned him.

A pattern of lights emerged from the sky above. Melia immediately recognized them as grouped in a military formation - at least some of the allied force were approaching.

Just as some of the others began to notice, the incoming group opened fire, scattering a bevy of ether lasers across the Telethia.

"What?!" Dickson's mount took a hit, but it didn't seem too affected. "Who was that? Show yourself!"

The squadron reached skirmish range and held position. Kallian was plainly visible at the bridge of the foremost Havres.

"Melia, are you all right?" he called.

"Brother!" It was hard to think of what else to reply with. There was so much that needed to be said, yet it felt like there was no time for any of it.

Reyn took over. "Kallian! Dickson works for the Bionis! He shot Shulk with his back turned!"

Kallian's face couldn't really be seen at this distance, but he was clearly perturbed. "Is this true?!"

Melia turned towards Dickson, the re-statement of his deeds simmering her anger once more. She could feel some hope welling back up again - the Havres had taken out a few Telethia in the initial volley, and she knew that was with their lesser weaponry.

Kallian didn't need any more of an answer; he could see the purpose in her movement. He turned himself towards Dickson as well. "So, Dickson, you side with the enemy as readily as he shows himself? Prepare for your defeat."

Dickson appeared playfully unconcerned. "Big talk from someone who should know he's already lost. Didn't you ever pay attention to what your daddy told you? Or did he not get to that in time?"

"Your mocking serves no purpose." Kallian motioned the order to open fire.

Nothing happened. Melia could sense all the Havres charging a huge amount of ether, but none of them were shooting. The gunners were clearly confused, tapping away at their control panels looking for the problem. Dickson laughed at them.

Kallian knew that so many ships having the same problem all at once was no coincidence. He angrily looked to the conspicuous occupant of the vessel on his immediate right. "Would you mind not standing idle and diagnose this issue, Lorithia?"

Lorithia ignored him and chuckled. "Oh, Your Highness, always the _clever_ one. Presuming that this is an _issue_ , and not in fact a designed eventuality."

"You will carry out your orders, Minister Nekudiora, or I will have you removed from office!"

"Oh! Oh, I'm so _hurt_." A laugh made it clear she wasn't at all sincere. "Your family is so charming to play with, but all things must come to an end."

A green energy began to flow out of Lorithia's Havres, before quickly spreading to all of them.

The hope Melia had instantly vanished. She could tell this was the same ether energy Zanza had tried to use on her to no effect, and he'd implied that her being half-blooded was the only reason it didn't cause her to turn against her friends. But now it was being used on some of the most skilled warriors of the empire, most if not all of them pure-blooded. Her instinct was that civil war was about to break out, followed by the Telethia picking apart the survivors.

Kallian hesitated for only a moment. "Ram her!"

The pilot attempted to comply, but the steering wheel came off in his hands, turning into a viscous green fluid that began spreading up his arms. The same was happening to the other Havres trying to take action.

"Awaken, my darling pets!" Lorithia struck a pose to amuse herself further.

Huge green bubbles started to blossom across the High Entia ships, consuming the screaming people they happened to touch. Some survived long enough to become partially visible again, before mercifully disappearing once more. Some of the vessels transformed faster than others, their hard construction replaced with etheral flesh and flowing wings.

Kallian threw his rapier at Lorithia, but he was too busy trying to swim out of the mutation bubbles to get enough arm on it, and it sailed into the sea far below. He growled and grimaced as he slowly lost ground.

Melia wanted to yell something, anything at Lorithia, but couldn't find any words. Other people were saying things around her but they were being filtered out. So much had happened in only the past hour - fighting Egil, Dickson's traitorousness, fighting Zanza, releasing Meyneth, worrying over Shulk - that now watching her brother get absorbed into an angry cloud of ether by another traitor was simply overloading her mind.

It was Kallian's first scream of actual pain that finally snapped her to action.

"You disloyal whelp! Release him!"

Lorithia smiled and moved with extreme exaggeration. "You misunderstand, child. We can't release someone of their destiny. I simply accelerated it. Why waste any more time?"

Melia thought about simply firing a bolt at her, but the surrounding active transformations were producing so much interference that aiming it across the distance would be like trying to push a rope. Firing a miss into the sky would do nothing productive.

"It's simple, really," Dickson half-snickered, revelling in finally revealing a lifelong secret. "Lord Zanza created the High Entia as an easy way to rid the Bionis of any annoying life forms when it's time for its rebirth. Their bodies contain a gene that, when the time comes, transforms them into Telethia."

"I'm not inclined to believe a further word out of your toxic gob." She replied quickly without really thinking about what Dickson had said.

Dickson shrugged. "You don't 'ave to believe me, it's the truth either way. Why else d'ya think Lord Zanza gave it a shot on you? Be the ultimate irony really, to have the rest of Shulk's buddies taken out by his fresh girlfriend. But no, half-breeds aren't good enough to see the light. Guess you'll just be joining your Homs mates in bein' crushed by 'em!"

"What? No, that's...it can't..." Melia trailed off as the meaning of the words began to sink in and many thoughts began to connect. High Entia turning into Telethia. Telethia having the ether signatures of High Entia children. Zanza thinking he could take her into his army. The green light enveloping the Bionis' head. The ancient monstrous statues on Prison Island. The imperial ban on DNA sequencing research. Half-bloods being immune. Her being selected over Kallian to take the throne. It being said that the Monado coming to Alcamoth could signal the end of the High Entia. The ancestral simulation expecting her as the last to rule the High Entia.

Most of the transformations were done now. The fleet of Havres was now a group of Telethia - significantly larger and bulkier Telethia than any in the original attacking force.

"I think she gets it now," Dickson chuckled, the slimy grin returning. "Gets just how every step of this whole kit 'n' kaboodle was planned by Lord Zanza. Yeah, some brainy emperors figured out that half-breeds didn't count, but it's too late. You're all dead as a doornail, and your dear old brother'll be doin' the honours."

Kallian howled in pain as only his head and torso remained unfused to the rest of the transformed Havres.

"Brother! Hold on! I'll figure out some way to save you!" Half-formed thoughts of ether physics ran through Melia's mind. Would water's healing properties decelerate or accelerate the transformation? No, ice was a more likely candidate to slow it down. Then add some earth for memory, dark for reversal...then water to get the reversion and healing process going faster? It was going to be quite a complex resonance with strict timing requirements, and that didn't even consider figuring out the necessary proportions. How much would be needed to counter a state-of-the-art vehicle's reserves?

"...No, Melia..." Kallian's face twitched as green lines crawled across it. "It was always too late for me. I've known for years. It was why Father and I always pushed you so hard...to ready you for what we hoped would never come to pass in our living memory..."

"Awww," mocked Lorithia. "Such a _touching_ story."

Kallian grimaced, his twitching now spreading to the Telethia's other body parts. "...but...But _now_! Now you must carry out our wishes to the end! The future of what remains of us and everyone is in your hands...yours and Shulk's!"

The huge Telethia slowly started to turn around and emit a new light.

"What?!" Lorithia gasped. "How?!"

Now mostly in control of the body he had been fused into, Kallian faced and sped towards Lorithia. "You thought you could turn me against my family? Not while I have a shred of myself remaining, you scum!"

Dickson tried to move his Telethia to attack or at least block the incoming mass.

It was impossible to tell from Junks exactly what transpired next, aside from a huge bloom of light and ether blocking out most of the Telethia mob.

The bottom suddenly dropped out of Melia's stomach. Up until now, Kallian's familiar ether signature had still been vaguely recognizable despite his mutated state. But in the moment of the energy release, it simply vanished.

"BROTHEEEEeeeEeEEeeEERRRRrrRRrRRrrrrrrrrr!" It was a mindless scream, accompanied by a pointless reach.

Junks started moving, leaving the scene behind.

Melia lost a few minutes. One moment she was staring and flailing at the ether explosion, and the next she was sitting idle, calm, and alone back in the Junks medical lab. Upon realizing she'd skipped some time, she filled it in by presuming she'd been persuaded back inside by the others, and probably requested to be left alone.

She looked down at her gloves. They were sopping wet. _I've been crying, apparently. Pathetic. Brother's death was a sacrifice to save us all and kill the traitors; it deserves to be lauded, not anguished._

She looked back up and was reminded that Shulk's empty body was present.

 _...Today is the worst day in the history of the world._

The next several minutes were spent in surprisingly continuous mental silence.

After a bit, Dunban silently appeared at the door. He clearly didn't want to enter without permission.

Melia looked towards him, but after a moment's thought cynically turned back away. "I suppose you're here to offer your perspective on losing a sibling."

"You've got me figured out, Melia." Dunban didn't move, not assuming the statement was an invitation.

Melia considered whether she wanted to hear it right now - she didn't want to talk about it, but she also didn't want to _not_ talk about it. Eventually she caved, waving Dunban inside and sitting on her hands to hide her damp gloves.

Dunban walked in and sat on the empty operating table across from Melia. "I can't pretend I know exactly how you feel right now. But I can offer my experience." He paused to await a response; getting none, he continued. "Did Shulk ever tell you how Fiora died?"

"He did." It was quite a while ago now, so she didn't remember all the details, but it was enough. "She fought the Mechon and Metal Face in the attack on Colony 9."

"That's right." Dunban stared into the distance, straight-faced. "I'd spent the better part of my life protecting her. From Mechon, from bullies, even from herself at times. Then it all vanished in an instant. It was the most awful feeling imaginable. But it awakened something within Shulk. Not a day had passed before he set off to avenge her. Had none of it happened...as bleak as things may seem right now, it would have been far worse."

"Shulk did tell me similar," Melia replied. "He didn't think so at first, but he realized that Fiora's sacrifice was both the best and the worst thing to happen to him."

Dunban nodded. "I can see that. I could say something similar, actually. While it provided me the spark to live and fight again after spending a year bedridden, there will always be a hole in me where a younger sister belongs."

"But that is where we differ. Fiora was the younger."

"Indeed. It's clear that Kallian was your mentor and shield as much as I tried to be Fiora's. I can only guess how it feels to be on the other side." Something occurred to him. "How old was he?"

"He is a hundred and fifty-one." Melia did some quick math. "Which in Homs years, equates to about thirty-three and a half."

"That's about what I expected." Dunban looked up to think. "The few times we spoke, I always had the sense he was greatly torn between doing what was best for you, or doing what he felt was right. I've grappled with that decision myself many times."

Melia thought back to when she first met Dunban in Makna Forest. It'd taken less then five minutes for him to cement the impression he was either an older brother or a father, with a calm, experienced, and unflappable attitude she'd much likened to Kallian's. She wondered if she had given off any similar hints of her own sibling status.

Dunban suddenly changed the topic. "What do you believe about death?"

It felt like both a strange and an appropriate question. "Most High Entia believe in asterism. Departed souls rest as stars in the sky and watch over the living before eventually earning the choice to reincarnate. One's worth in life ordains their place in the sky, with the greatest at the zenith and the most despicable far below the horizon, and only by slowly rising through the fixed constellations can rebirth be achieved."

"Ah, but what do _you_ believe?"

"I...I'm not sure anymore." Melia began to fidget slightly, leaning back and forth. "We presuppose much of the gods of the universe - the two titans themselves, the twin sisters of order and justice, the six elemental sages, and several other lesser deities. But if Zanza and Meyneth are the only two, as Zanza claims, everything we believe is false."

"Not necessarily," assured Dunban. "Your beliefs might remain true regardless of who we have for gods. And Zanza has shown himself to be quite self-indulgent. Perhaps he simply ignores the presence of gods he views as lesser tham him - which is to say, all of them."

"Perhaps." Melia cast her mind around all the major deities of all belief systems she was aware of, seeing if any of them had a resemblence to Zanza or Meyneth. No obvious candidates jumped out at her.

Dunban also looked to be thinking about something deep, but snapped out of it. "I'll tell you what _I_ believe. I believe Kallian and Fiora are still out there somewhere, watching us and wishing they could help."

Melia couldn't think of an appropriate response before blurting out the first thing that came to mind. "And what about Shulk?"

"Shulk's not finished yet." Dunban's answer was instant and confident. "If there's anything I'm certain of in these uncertain times, it is that."

"I wish I could share your conviction." Melia gloomily looked over at the occupied far table, half-hoping to find that Shulk had even just rustled a bit, despite knowing she'd have sensed it already if so.

"Did you ever doubt Kallian's conviction?"

"You are not him."

"No, of course not. Nor could I ever hope to be." Dunban debated whether to continue the thought. "But if you need someone to be, I can try."

It wasn't hard for Melia to understand what he meant: if she needed an older brother figure, Dunban was available. She considered for a few moments how to respond.

"I appreciate your offer of support, Dunban. But...I don't think I'm ready for it right now." There was a pause while she figured out how to explain why.

Dunban didn't need the reasoning. "I understand." He stood up and started walking out. "We'll be meeting with Otharon once we reach Colony 6. I expect we'll need your input on whatever we discuss."

Melia nodded slowly. "Very well."

There was no further talking as Dunban left the room.

 _So we've changed course to Colony 6 then? Makes sense; it is higher and more fortified then Colony 9, and likely to be the next target of the Telethia strikes._

 _But what next? Zanza is likely to have hidden himself somewhere within the Bionis, probably in the chest or head. How are we to find him? He may think himself invincible, but to advertise his whereabouts would be quite foolish...unless he has foreseen himself defeating us, in which case he will surely do so. Actually, that's a point of interest - as long as he remains hidden, we know he does not feel confident in challenging us, as to even draw and retreat would be a huge mark on his psyche._

 _That in itself is curious. If Zanza is so convinced in his superiority, why not simply teleport aboard Junks and thrash us immediately? I suppose he may be busy mobilizing the Telethia, but why not choose to deal with us personally first? Surely he must realize we are his biggest threat._

The floor twitched a bit as Junks began slowing. Melia waited for it to stop completely before slowly standing up and starting towards the bridge. She wanted to remain alone for a whole lot longer, but that was flatly impossible - she had a job to do.

The bridge was crowded; the rest of the party, Miqol, Otharon, Alvis, and Dunga were all present. Discussion was already in progress.

"...can't do a thing about it," Dunban was saying.

"Yeah," Reyn answered, more subdued than usual. "Can't much leave the only titan in the world. We're stuck with him."

Otharon turned towards Melia. "Good to see you, Princess. We're busy gathering up all the refugees we can find from Alcamoth and bringing them here to Colony 6, if they haven't already settled themselves elsewhere. But we have to know - should we be worried about them? Might they become what we fear?"

It was of course difficult to be presented with such a direct question, especially as it showed how much had been shared without her in the room. But even now, Melia managed to keep her emotions repressed behind a neutral expression. "No. Zanza personally attempted to turn me and failed. All those who survived are part Homs like me - I am confident they too will not succumb to the curse."

"And what about those that already did?" asked Sharla.

Melia thought the subtext was obvious. "It is too late for those who have been transformed. The least we can do is free their tormented souls from their mutated bodies."

"Give 'em a fight, you mean." It looked like Reyn was trying to psych himself up. "Give 'em revenge for Shulk. For everyone that yellow ugly's killed."

Alvis stepped into the conversation. "But then what?"

"What'd'you mean, then what?"

"What do you expect your resistance to achieve? It is Zanza's will that we return to the body from whence we came. Whether we die of old age or in battle, we all eventually return to the Bionis. We cannot escape this fate. Am I wrong?"

Reyn rolled his eyes and looked to the side. "Just 'cos he said something don't make him right. You weren't there when Melia showed him he ain't as all-powerful as he thinks, gave him a good fight alone without our help. We won't just sit here and let him get us."

"But what does it accomplish, when your fate is to die either way?" Alvis wasn't looking at the person he was speaking to, but rather towards the centre of the group as a whole. It was somewhat eerie, as if he wasn't quite listening.

"Zanza may be our creator," said Dunban, "but that does not afford him the right to end our lives on a whim."

"But that is the thinking of a Homs. He is a god. Such morals cannot apply to gods."

It was unusual to see Alvis continue a discussion to this degree; normally he would simply ensure his opinion was understood and then remain silent. Melia felt this so strange that she considered asking why he appeared so committed to playing devil's advocate. On the other hand, she also felt like trying to scuttle the topic entirely before it damaged morale too much.

"What're you playing at?" Reyn spat. "Who says gods get to make our decisions for us?"

"The god does, if that is what he wishes."

Dunban was starting to look annoyed. "If you think we'll just wait here for Zanza to pick us off, you are sorely mistaken."

"He does not need to," Alvis continued. "He may simply wait until we die. To Zanza, the outcome is the same. Your decision to fight or not fight is immaterial."

Melia had enough. "Seer, do you still recognize my authority?"

Alvis didn't blink. "Of course, Your Majesty."

"Good." She pointed at the door. "Then I order you to shut up or get out."

There was a stunned silence in the room; Alvis himself didn't appear blindsided by the uncharacteristic demand, but everyone else sure did.

Alvis milked the silence for as long as he could before making a disappointed nod and leaving the room.

"Whose side does he think he's on," grumbled Reyn. "Tryin' to-"

"That's enough, Reyn," Melia interrupted. "Do we not have actually important matters to discuss?"

"That's right," Otharon said. "If we expect the colony to be attacked by Telethia, we'll need a plan. And you're the expert on the creatures, Princess."

"...please, just call me Melia." It was an awkward thing to say, but it felt necessary to try and keep her position from later becoming exposed outside the inner circle. "I would not consider myself an expert on Telethia, but we do have some practical experience with them, and I myself have done some theoretical research. The most effective defense against a Telethia is distance, the ability to attack them before they can reach telepatic range. Artillery and other long-range armaments will be critical in defending the colony. But when we inevitably meet on the ground, the correct strategy is teamwork, to group so many minds close together as to present a challenge in deciphering them. I also suspect that vehicles pose them difficulty if they are sufficiently removed from bipedal anatomy, though this is an untested theory."

Dunga spoke up. "Is there anything special we Nopon can do?"

"Not in particular. As far as we can tell, Telethia do not much distinguish the species of their assailants."

"Good to know," said Otharon. "It's time to start spreading the word. Let's get ready."

Most people took this as a signal the discussion was over; they began to file out of the bridge. Melia waited until about half of the people were gone before she turned for the exit.

"Ah, Melia!" Miqol called. "One more moment, if you please."

Melia reluctantly turned back as the remaining people left. "Yes?"

"I thought you'd want to know that I've got a Replica Monado in the final step of manufacturing. I was going to tell Shulk when it's done, but under the circumstances, maybe you should just bring it to him tomorrow."

"...I see. Very well." _I suppose a Shulk without a weapon is no better than a Shulk without life._

Miqol nodded. "That's all I wanted. Have a good night."

Melia left with haste, intending to go out into Colony 6 to find food.

She had already made half the journey towards the medical lab before she realized she was going the wrong way. _No, you blind cretin, stop it. Stop wanting to sit around Shulk's corpse for no purpose. Go eat._ Frustrated with herself, she turned around and stormed outside.

The mood outside was tense. Many convoys were delivering survivors from upper Bionis, most of whom seemed aware that the colony was not necessarily safe. The commercial district was beginning to pack up for the evening as well as in anticipation of the looming invasion. Remaining members of the allied force were preparing themselves.

Suddenly hungry, and with most options already closed, Melia resigned herself to one of the few fast-food chains that had expanded from Alcamoth to Colony 6. She stepped into whatever the nearest one happened to be - a Micondo's.

As expected, the joint was mostly empty. Only two Homs were sitting at the tables, and it looked like only two employees were present - a Nopon and a High Entia.

The High Entia stepped up to the counter and turned on his register. "Hi, can I take your order?"

Melia froze. The cashier was the first High Entia she'd seen up close since the Telethia event, and he had about the same build as Kallian. A rush of fear and panic coursed through her - despite his round ears signifying his half-blooded nature, some part of her mind still expected him to morph and mutate any second.

"...um, hello?"

"Oh I'm sorry." Melia shook her head and rubbed her eyes, not knowing what to think. "My...mind was elsewhere." She wearily looked up at the menu, wondering how many times in the past few hours this man had been imagined as a Telethia. "I'd like the fish fillet combo, with thinchips and grape juice."

The Nopon in the back immediately jumped into action.

The High Entia totaled the food. "That will be 36G."

Melia silently paid, intentionally being a bit slow about it to minimize the time spent doing nothing while waiting. But it was a fruitless endeavour, and still ended up spending two minutes anxiously pacing around. Why she was _anxious_ about it, as opposed to simply impatient from hunger, wasn't clear.

"Here fish meal for bird lady." The Nopon placed the filled tray on the counter.

"Thank you." Melia took the food and went to sit in the most distant corner, trying to tone down or at least understand the anxious jitters that were starting to build up.

After a few minutes of eating, she figured it out. Everyone was gone now. Aside from the few who were outside the city at the time, everyone she'd ever known had either turned into a Telethia or been killed by those who did. Teachers, musicians, tailors, cooks, guards, everyone. It was such a huge event that it was hard to even understand what it truly meant for the majority of Alcamoth's huge population being converted into extremely dangerous monsters.

It wasn't just the people being gone, either - the city itself was pretty much gone too. There might be an opportunity to sneak in and collect a useful item or two, multiplied by the number of daring individuals with ships and a goal, but that was about it - the marvel of engineering had been transformed from a fortress of sanctuary into a veritable Telethia hive.

The reality of being homeless wouldn't truly sink in yet, but it was all too easy to think about. She'd probably never return to the palace again, let alone sleep in her own bed. She'd be stuck wearing her current clothes for the next few days at least, if not weeks. Without a supply of resources from above, she'd be eating these low-grade dinners for years before a true high-class culture could take hold below the Bionis' waist.

She had nothing to do with her life without an empire to rule.

 _At least Shulk is still here._

 _...I just treated Shulk as not presumed dead for the first time. Why is that? What caused my belief to change?_

 _It must be because of acknowledging the utter destruction of everything I know. I'm desperate to find something to hang onto, anything from before the...the event that still exists.  
_

Still jittering and wholly preoccupied, Melia reached for the remaining grape juice but bumped it and sent the capped cup tumbling. It hit the floor and spit out a medicine dose's worth of juice down her leg.

 _Bugger._ Melia quickly replaced the mercifully mostly-empty cup on the table and started dabbing a napkin across the wet fabric. The juice would wash out easily, but she'd have to wait until tomorrow to do so, having no way to dry it without the sun. She didn't need the additional frustration; she felt even more anxious than before at knowing that something as trivial as a juice spill was a serious inconvenience on her new life.

It was hard to finish the meal as the same terrible thoughts and memories kept playing over and over again. If she weren't in public, she definitely would have attacked something in frustration by now. A tiny part of the back of her mind didn't tire at suggesting the entire day could have all been a dream, but she knew better - her dreamcatcher might be weak, but there was no way it would allow such a detailed and complex nightmare to pass completely unopposed.

An eternity later, the food was gone and Melia was half-walking half-jogging back to Junks. Any opinion that hanging around Shulk was a waste of time was pushed aside by the need to not be alone right now.

 _But then why do I not care about joining any of the others instead?_ she considered. _If all I need is to have a friend right now, I have an array of more reciprocal options._

She saw Reyn and Riki in the distance but ignored them, continuing to rush into Junks.

 _It must be because...Shulk is the most important. Because he also needs help._

 _Because...he needs he as much as I need him. That is what he said all those many hours ago, is it not?_

Melia pushed into the medical lab at much higher speed than she thought she was going. The first thing she saw was quite unusual: Linada was placing a pillow onto one of the beds, which was also covered in blankets.

Linada didn't appear surprised by Melia's sudden entrance, but instead met eyes and smiled. "Good evening, Melia. As you can see, I've been expecting you."

Melia was sufficiently confused to not respond immediately, instead staring at the made bed.

"Sharla warned me that you might want to spend the night here," Linada continued, "and I can understand why, so we fetched some extra bedding for you. I'll leave you be and return in the morning. Goodnight."

The Machina doctor left the room and closed the door, followed by a click as the lock spun into position.

Melia didn't know what to make of the gesture. She did feel grateful that she could have a few hours without being bothered by anyone she didn't want to see, but to an extent it also felt like she _should_ be so bothered like it or not, in case someone had insight she didn't want to but needed to hear.

She could feel an emptiness. A lot of the Junks personel were currently out in the colony, leaving the ship largely powered down. Compared to earlier, it was almost as if the lights had been turned out - each individual's ether signature stood out a lot more in the void.

And there was a new one.

It was very faint, so much so that it was hard to even tell what species it belonged to. But it seemed close, and wasn't moving.

Melia had a pretty obvious guess as to what it was, but decided to be thorough about it before getting too excited, so she started slowly wandering around the room. As the evidence built up, she dirfted towards the lone occupied bed, almost trying to make no disturbance.

Arriving at his side, it was undeniably clear: Shulk was alive, his ether slowly but surely returning to him from seemingly nowhere.

Melia's relief was so strong that her instinct was to flop across Shulk's body like a throw rug. In fact, the only way she could stop herself from doing so was to immediately cut power to her legs, sending her collapsing to the floor instead.

 _I can't believe myself. I'm the empress of Alcamoth, not some floozy defined by her boyfriend. Perhaps I need stability after today, but fawning over Shulk is not the answer._

She tried to let the relief override the frustration, which was a bit easier than expected. Shulk was alive, and while he might not wake up for another few hours, he'd be back to help fight off the eventual Telethia attack. It was hard to say how much help he could provide without the Monado's visions, but anything would be better than him pretending to be dead.

Unfortunately, thinking about Shulk waking up instantly led to Melia realizing how tired she was. And for good reason - in the past twenty-four hours, she'd probably burned more calories than an entire week this time last year. And that didn't even consider how much ether she'd produced. It wasn't even close to bedtime yet she felt like completely leaving the world until lunch the next day.

Melia shuffled over to the made bed and clambered inside the blankets, trying not to think about the dozens of ways the universe had changed, and wondering whether she hoped that Shulk would wake up first. At least he was definitively still alive - otherwise, with nothing else left to live for, there wouldn't be much reason for her to ever wake up again.


	14. Resistance

Shulk was conscious. Whether he was "awake" was questionable; he could feel that he had a body, but he didn't appear to be able to exert any control over it. He could feel himself breathing but couldn't alter its pattern. He could hear the silence of an enclosed room but had no other knowledge of where he was - he couldn't even feel whether he was standing up or lying on a surface.

He wasn't sure if he had succeeded at escaping the strange dream world where he had found Alvis. Wherever he was at least felt a lot more real, in the sense that he didn't think he'd imagine himself being blind and paralyzed. All he had to do was figure out how to regain control of his body.

 _Zanza must have messed me up,_ he figured. _He stole the keys to my body so I can't get it moving. But he probably assumed I'm dead, so maybe he didn't try that hard. I'll figure something out, or someone else will._

He got bored pretty quickly; with no apparent change in his body or surroundings no matter how hard he tried, all he could really do was wait and guess how long he'd been waiting.

What was there to think about in the meantime? Not a lot that he really wanted to think about. At least not without someone else to bounce conversation off - as much as he didn't like to admit it, if he didn't have Alvis to talk to about Zanza and what he'd done, he probably would have been too depressed about it to bother trying coming back to life. But now that he was stuck doing nothing alone, he was worried about slipping back down again.

"Shulk..."

 _It's Melia._ Shulk immediately perked up at the voice from nowhere. _She's been out kind of like this before, she might have some hints what to do._

"Please wake up soon."

 _Okay, so it just looks like I'm sleeping, no serious injuries then. Didn't really even hurt a lot, actually. Sharla probably fixed me up quickly._

"How long do you want to sleep?"

It was difficult to tell where the voice was coming from, in relation to him. She was definitely close, but left, right, or in front was hard to discern.

"You must get up. The world needs you. I need you. We all need you."

Shulk's enthusiasm dipped as Melia stopped talking for a few minutes. _If she had an idea she would have told me already. Hopefully I didn't miss it earlier. Please keep talking though, I don't like the silence. Is there anyone else here? No probably not, they'd be less quiet than you.  
_

"Shulk. Can you hear me?"

Shulk tried even harder to do something, anything that could act as a signal. He wondered if his inability to feel touch meant that he couldn't feel whether he was successfully moving, but then again Melia would certainly react to it.

"Maybe you are lost. Perhaps you feel helpless. But please stay with me a little longer."

 _Definitely alone, she wouldn't be saying that kind of thing if anyone else were here. That probably means it's been more than a few hours, or they'd all still be crowded around hoping I'm alright.  
_

"Shulk... Since I first met you, it is as if my life has been turned upside down. It has been an unending chain of anxiety, worry, and sadness... I have experienced much pain. Father's death, losing my people... Just thinking about it, it is difficult to hold back the tears."

There was another long pause. Shulk absolutely hated how he couldn't do anything; he was the one in trouble, yet Melia was the one who needed the emotional support right now.

He did notice something, however - as Melia talked, he was finding it easier to locate her voice in space, which was also slowly making it possible for him to figure out that he was lying down at some non-flat angle. If she could keep talking, he might be able to keep getting back in touch with the real world. Maybe if she poked him in the arm or something, that would also be helpful, but he more expected that kind of thing from Reyn, and he probably did it a few times already.

"I wanted to grieve for everything lost, but I did not. Because I still have hope in you. You have kept me strong. You, Sharla, Riki, everyone... You have all stood by me and given me so much strength. I cannot even begin to put my gratitude into words."

 _No, Melia._ You _kept_ us _strong. You attacked Mumkhar when none of us had the guts to. You faced a fear of piloting to carry us around the world and keep our spirits up by helping others. You kept Meyneth safe without complaint and faced Zanza alone to protect us. I carried the Monado, but_ you're _the true hero._

Shulk almost thought he could sense something, the way that the world is never truly pitch black with eyes closed when facing a bright light. He now knew for sure that Melia was to his right, creeping somewhat closer. But as the silence extended, things slowly began to regress back into nothingness.

"I presume you have noticed that out of everyone, you have given the most for me. It is even because of you that I feel the way I do now. But I have given you nothing in return..."

 _That's not true at all. You gave me someone to care about. I don't think I could have gotten this far without one._

"Shulk... What can I do for you?"

 _You can keep talking, it's drawing my senses back. If I can get to the point where I can feel my body again, I should be able to get it moving.  
_

But Melia didn't keep talking, instead allowing the longest silence since she first spoke.

 _C'mon, anything at all, just keep going. Could you even just start loudly walking around? Even that-_

Shulk's thought was interrupted by a siren that was either distant or muffled by walls. He couldn't tell where it was coming from, but it wasn't a familiar sound, so at least he now knew he wasn't in Colony 9. Probably Colony 6; it sounded more Homs than otherwise.

Melia didn't seem to react to the siren, given that there was no sudden clattering of footsteps. Instead, she found something else to say, with a voice that was both much quieter and much closer.

"Shulk... I have just now realized that I don't have to worry about your condition. In the few hours before embarking on my journey to Makna Forest and the Telethia there, Alvis approached me with a vision. He told me the crown princess would meet the wielder of the sword of light, and change the fate of the world together. I did not think much of this claim. But upon first meeting you, evidently the described boy of pale skin and golden hair, I was conflicted. I could not believe that I would develop a personal connection to a Homs within the short span of time before I expected to return to the palace and become sequestered from all once again. Yet even before the Telethia fell, you had bolstered me with a positivity and kinship that I had never before felt, a link that grew even stronger when you risked everything for no benefit to yourself and followed me into the tomb. The revelation of your childhood friend's feelings for you was a painful damper on my feelings and motivations, but even as I spiralled down into despair over how I believed myself to be nothing more than a substitute for her, the tiniest spark of hope remained. While I was initially undecided as to whether the vision was about friendship or...something deeper, you yourself have made it undoubtedly clear."

Shulk tried to pay attention to the content of the speech and not just its soundwaves. On one hand, he wasn't too surprised that Alvis saw fit to push Melia in the right direction before they had even met, and idly wondered what could have happened if he didn't plant the seed in her mind. On the other hand, he felt close to a breakthough in awakening from this coma or whatever it was, and just wanted Melia to keep talking about anything at all.

"So, you see, you're going to be fine." It was almost a whisper in his face now. "Because if everything has indeed proceeded as Zanza has foreseen - we haven't changed the fate of the world yet."

 _Well, we kind of already have? To an extent? Maybe not in a completely good way yet, but-_

Shulk was suddenly inundated with tactile sensation; it felt like every part of his body got awoken from its stupor at once. He could feel he was lying at an angle on a cold hard table. He could locate the distant siren. He could feel his hands and feet twitching at the sudden restoration of control.

He could feel...something wet on his lips.

"Now _get up_."

Shulk's eyes flew open. Melia had already stood up and picked up a strange-looking weapon, holding it in front of him. The siren kept blaring.

He slowly sat up and hung his legs over the side of the table, looking around the medical lab, bending all his joints at once to check that they worked. It was a huge relief to be able to move again.

He couldn't help from vocalizing his first instinct. "So we're even now then?"

Melia didn't appear to get the context. "How so?"

"Getting each other to wake up by doing this."

Shulk reached out to grab Melia's waist and shoulders, pulled her in, and kissed her.

Melia dropped the mystery weapon with a loud clatter, lucky that it didn't crush her toes, and stood paralyzed with indecision as massive quantities of sensation and hormones flooded through her. To say she hadn't expected this kind of reaction would be a gross understatement.

After about five seconds, Shulk let go. "It's okay, no one never taught me how to kiss either, no big deal." He started to stand up off the table, testing his legs cautiously.

Melia chose to ignore whatever had just happened. She could dwell on it later - if there was a later. "Allow me to fill you in."

"Wait," Shulk interrupted, "let's skip the part where I kind of half-felt what was going on. Zanza said he's the only person that matters and wants to kill everyone so he can live, he fought you to kind of a draw until he used a very powerful attack, and Meyneth sacrificed herself but had to give up her Monado to him. Then he left and that's all I know." He remembered something else and quickly became depressed about it. "...oh yeah, and Dickson...said things."

Melia felt it best to move on quickly; she wasn't keen on deeply reliving the last little while either. "We collected you and escaped to Junks. Zanza used the Bionis to destroy Mechonis while we reached Colony 6. Now, he's...attacking us with Telethia formed from the citizenry of Alcamoth."

Shulk nodded; it was clear he wanted to hear more about the last part, but figured it wasn't the time. "Wow. I imagine it's been hard without me."

"It has certainly not been ideal."

"So what's this then?" He bent down to pick up the mystery weapon and felt it over. "Feels kinda familiar somehow...wait, it's a replica Monado, isn't it? Miqol got one finished today? Or yesterday?"

"Indeed." Melia felt kind of jealous. The Imperial Staff was effective enough, but it was never meant to be used as a weapon, and having sat unused for eons and then suddenly pressed into extreme service was making it start to feel a little loose and unfocused; it would need a fair chunk of idle time to firm back up. And now that Alcamoth was gone, there was no reasonable avenue for her to obtain a new staff of comparable quality - she could always go back to her own Protect Staff, but it was simply less effective overall, and none of the other staves the party had collected were a true match for her.

"Feels good." Shulk tried activating the Replica Monado and gave it a few test swings; it was clearly effortless. "Feels even better, actually. There's...like...it's clean, it's empty. It's just mine, not also Zanza's." He closed it back up and looked over it. "Not sure about the green, but that'd be easy to fix."

The last comment's pettiness was amusing; Melia was compelled to turn away and stifle a chuckle. She hid it by looking towards the source of the siren. "It sounds like the others will need us shortly."

Shulk felt a huge rumble. "Uh, is there time to eat something first? Even just like a bagel, I'm totally empty."

"I expected as much." Melia pointed towards a plate on a counter with two chocolate chip muffins and a glass of orange juice on it.

"Great thanks." Shulk hurried over to the food. "You should go get started without me. If they're fighting Telethia out there, they'll need you more than anyone."

Melia rather felt they needed Shulk more than anyone, but it'd do no good to argue the point. "Very well. I'll see you outside."

Shulk already had a large wad of muffin in his mouth, so he just waved.

The morning sky outside was lit with battle. All available artillery was firing upon the descending cloud of Telethia above, forcing those that survived to at least land outside the colony walls. The current position seemed tenable for the defenders, as long as the attackers didn't change their strategy.

"Melly!" Riki appeared at high speed almost the moment Melia stepped out onto the Junks deck. "Super alarm say lots of Dinobeast!" He tumbled to a stop and started trying to get going back the other way.

"I had a hunch that would be it, Riki." She ran to catch up and presumably meet up with the others, wherever they happened to be.

It didn't take long to regroup; Reyn, Dunban, and Sharla arrived at the colony entrance at about the same time as them. Melia considered whether to tell them that Shulk was awake and would be joining them soon - it might raise their morale, but it might also make them complacent. She decided to wait and see how they were doing.

Dunban didn't leave any time; as soon as they were fully grouped, he started outside. "Let's go! We'll focus our efforts on protecting the gate!"

"Give those slimy creatures a headache!" Reyn yelled loudly enough to reach several other groups of fighters also approaching the gates, earning a few calls in return.

The fight on the ground was in a careful balance. Few enough Telethia were reaching the ground that they were overwhelmed by Colony 6 forces before they could get far, but the defenders were spread rather thin; if the attackers were just a bit more frequent it was likely one would slip through.

"We should hold here," said Sharla, planting her foot into the ground. "It's the best vantage point we can get without going too far out."

Reyn pointed up. "Looks like we got ourselves a warmup."

A small, bipedal Telethia descended upon the group. One of its arms was missing, presumably via the artillery, and it appeared distracted and unsure which direction to go.

"A warmup indeed. Show no restraint!" Melia summered her team-boosting elementals to begin the group's attack.

As expected, the crippled Telethia was easy prey; it took no more than a minute to dispatch.

"Sidekicks do good, real good," Riki rambled. "Small Dinobeast no trouble for Heropon!"

"Now for a tougher test," said Dunban, looking up into the distance.

A large snake-like Telethia hovered distant and above, too low for the artillery to reach but high enough to be out of any fighter's effective range. It was surrounded by a dozen of the star-shaped ones and a few bipedals, some of which clearly took some shots to help the large one get this low.

"Why are they just hangin' there?" asked Reyn. "If they all came at us at once we'd be in real big trouble."

"They must be waiting for something."

Sharla snapped around to face the new voice. "Juju?! What are you doing out here?"

Juju fumbled a bit with the rifle he was holding. "I helped rebuild this colony, I'm not letting anything destroy it."

"Don't be silly, kid," Reyn said. "What good d'you think you can do against these things?"

"I'm not useless! I'm not the best but I can still fight!"

Melia had a thought. "Any additional mind a Telethia must read is a burden. Especially that of an adolescent."

Juju looked like he wasn't sure whether the comment was an endorsement or an insult.

Sharla sighed, shook her head, and looked back up with a neutral expression. "Alright. If nothing else, at least I can protect you if you're here with us."

A star-shaped Telethia was the next to get close to the party, attempting to slip through the defenders and breach the colony entrance without fighting. It wasn't difficult to cut it off and subsequently force it to battle, which after a short while was resolved in its destruction.

 _These Telethia are going down quite easily,_ Melia considered. _Perhaps they are exhausted from travelling down here, or hampered by the less ether-rich environment of the lower Bionis. We may have a slightly easier time than expected. At least, until the large group decides to attack. But by then Shulk should be out here._

As if on cue, the large group in the distance began approaching, the large snake in the middle being circled by the others like moths around a lamp. It was clear they didn't care about the colony or the fights happening around it - they were coming straight for the party.

"Here it comes." Reyn cracked his neck and rolled his shoulder.

Expecting a volley of long-range attacks to begin the battle, Melia prepared defensive elementals and focused on the ringleader. But as it got closer, she suddenly sensed an all-too-familiar presence riding atop it.

 _...what? No, it can't be._

Sharla was the next to notice. "Look, it's him!"

"It's meee!" Dickson spread his arms tauntingly. "How've you all been? _Glad_ to see me?"

"Shut up!" yelled Reyn.

Dickson laughed. "What, you don't wanna hear me go on about how I'm still here? How the princess's big bro died for nothing? And how you'll get to go see him soon enough?"

Melia shook her head to clear it of the stun caused by seeing Dickson completely unaffected by yesterday's exploding Telethia. "Get down here and fight, you coward!"

"What do I need to do that for?" Dickson reached over to pat one of the surrounding Telethia on the head, like it was an oversized dog. "I ain't got nothin' to prove. Just a need to return you all back to Lord Zanza where you belong so we can get on with it. Maybe he'll decide to match you back up with your brother in the next life. How does as a boyfriend sound?"

Melia angrily smashed the head of her staff into the ground, which happened to grab her earth elemental on the way and thus caused the ground to slightly split open on impact.

"I _have_ a boyfriend, and his name is _Shulk!_ "

She raised the staff again and launched the earth elemental at Dickson, which had picked up a significant chunk of soil. One of the swarming Telethia interposed and exploded into a cloud of earthly poison.

Dickson seemed unimpressed by the action and quickly moved on. "You lot don't know when you're beaten! Why don't you just give up?" He shoved the nearby star-shaped Telethia down, which took it as an order to swoop down on the party; two bipedal ones it passed by decided to join in.

"Riki never lose! Riki and friends protect Hom Hom colony!" Riki lunged towards the creatures' target point and Burninated the area as they arrived, setting them all on fire to start things off.

Fighting multiple Telethia at once was an unwantedly new experience, but it turned out to be not much more difficult than any other battle against more than one significant foe. The Telethia showed no concept of teamwork, fighting independently of their allies with little regard for a plan. It took some effort, but they were soon dispatched with no casulties.

Dickson shrugged unconcernedly and made a motion, prompting his steed to let out a series of three barking roars.

Upon hearing the sound, all the Telethia currently engaged with other Colony 6 forces attempted to break off their fights and focus on the party. Most of them were already significantly injured, but there was a lot of them.

The battle quickly turned into a frenzy. While each incoming Telethia could be either beaten off or destroyed in two or three attacks, the sheer numbers were forcing the group to fight independently and attack without pause.

Reyn grabbed a smaller Telethia and punted it, wiping his brow. "We're in for the loug haul for sure."

"If only Shulk was here," Juju moaned, shooting reasonably accurately but not counting his ammo. "We're dead meat without the Monado!"

"Forget the Monado, kid. We ain't usin' that tool of Zanza's no more."

Sharla approached so her healing ether could be shared amongst them. "If Reyn's got time to flap his jaw, we must be doing okay!"

"We _are_ doing okay!" Reyn ran off to his next target, which he passed to Dunban with a bash.

Dunban received the incoming enemy with a spinning slash that covered all its options. "Reyn is correct. We have depended too much on Shulk and the Monado. Now, we must fight without them."

Melia looked up towards Dickson, still surrounded by enough minions that it wasn't practical to attack him directly. _Coward. A true leader fights alongside his forces, not behind them._

The battle wore on. Telethia continued to rain down upon the group, slowly transitioning from "badly injured from fighting others" to "freshly arrived". The surrounding forces' efforts to lure some away could only make so much of a dent in their numbers. The party started getting hemmed together from defending themselves.

Riki beat off one assailant. "Friends losing ground. Need big push!"

Reyn took one hit and gave it back. "We just need a breather, then we'll be fine. But they just keep coming!"

"Of course they are," Dickson drawled. "What, you thought you'd actually get through 'em all? Here, I'll skip ahead a bit for you."

The incoming small Telethia were replaced by a multitude of large three-headed beasts, each fully healthy and as imposing as the one fought in Makna Forest.

Melia leaned on her staff, breathing hard in both exhaustion and frustration. She'd just lost her burst aura by bolting a Telethia, and now she had to start all over just as the hardest test so far had arrived. And the others looked similarly worn down, so combined with the small space they'd been enclosed in, it wouldn't be easy to keep herself away from trouble for long enough.

"It almost looks as though everything is going as Zanza planned," Dunban said. "But our hearts and minds...They still hold the will to seize our own destiny! No matter how hard you try to break us, the future is _ours_ to shape, Dickson! _Always!_ "

Dickson rolled his eyes. "Go ahead and shape your next five minutes, that's about all the future you've got left. Your destiny is to die here!"

Melia's gaze snapped towards Colony 6. She couldn't see it through the Telethia, but a familiar energy was rushing towards them.

"C'mon then, what're you waiting for?" Dickson motioned towards the surrounding Telethia. One of them strated to charge up an attack.

It was perhaps a mistake. The charging creature was the first to be targetted by Shulk, appearing with the Replica Monado in hand and cutting up its heads.

"Shulk!" called Reyn. "Good timing!"

Shulk didn't answer, busy attacking other foes. The group didn't waste their chance to help out, taking advantage of his sudden appearance to kill two more Telethia and force the others to back off.

In the earned pause, Shulk rejoined the party proper. "Sorry to keep you waiting," he said breathlessly. "Had to...finish waking up."

"Your timing couldn't be better," said Dunban. "Now, the true battle begins."

Dickson grumbled something to himself before dropping his Telethia down to ground level and resuming his toying posturing. "So, you looking for a final lesson, kid?"

"Dickson." Shulk glared at him.

Melia sensed an odd tension between the two. Shulk seemed to be trying to look angry but didn't really have his heart in it. Dickson was a lot harder to read, but it felt like he was trying to hide something - presumably his surprise that Shulk wasn't dead.

"So you think you can stand up to Lord Zanza, eh? Well then, show me what you've got!"

The largest Telethia so far was of equally great challenge, but now that Shulk was here, it was no longer the unbeatable menace faced atop Junks yesterday. The very first thing Shulk did was to use Monado Purge on the creature, allowing the rest of the team to play their strengths without being immediately destroyed. And the few times it managed to stop paying attention to Reyn and Dunban, it always went for Shulk, who had no trouble evading its attacks. Eventually, the beast fell.

Dickson lazily walked away from the Telethia before it exploded, angrily muttering something to himself.

"Looks like we got him upset," taunted Reyn. "How'd ya do it, Shulk?"

Shulk seemed somewhat confused himself as to how. "I...I could see the future. Just as I always have. Even without the Monado."

"Nice one! Looks like we're back in business!"

Dickson grumbled and started calling to someone unseen behind the party. "Oi! Where're you at, you lazy bum? You just gonna sit back there and let me do all the hard work? Alvis?"

Melia scoffed at the implication that Dickson riding a Telethia that mostly made its own decisions was considered "work". But once he got to the last word, she immediately turned to see if he was talking about the same "Alvis" she knew.

Indeed it was; Alvis was walking past the party towards Dickson.

The rest of the party started to call him out and try to make him respond. For a moment, Melia intended to join in, to call him a traitor and demand answers. But she quickly noticed that Shulk appeared completely unconcerned, which caused her to reconsider.

"Oi, don't you ignore us!" Reyn moved to chase him down.

"No." Shulk grabbed Reyn's shoulder.

"Wha? Don't you-"

"It doesn't matter what he is," Shulk said. "That doesn't change anything at all. Does it, Alvis?"

"Yes. Precisely." Alvis turned and stopped next to Dickson. "You must find your own path to the future."

A new Telethia appeared, descending from the sky to hover beside Alvis. It was of a form unlike any other - bipedal with a tail, but with arms that moved like wings. As it arrived, the weather quickly turned sour, with thick rainclouds appearing as if from nowhere all across the sunny sky.

"I'm _over_ these stupid things," Reyn spat. "Well fine! You side with Zanza, you get to lose!"

"Show them no mercy," assented Dunban.

"Very well," replied Alvis. "Show me your claimed will to survive." He stepped back and motioned the Telethia to attack.

Like its shape, the Telethia fought unlike any other: by launching ether attacks from the sky rather than its body. It clearly possessed some form of weather control, as the rainclouds above moved unnaturally through the air in order to enable whichever attack it wished to use: solar-sourced laser beams, rainy blasts of water, and powerful bolts of lightning. It was a novel challenge in that the enemy's attacks had to be watched for from any direction, rather than simply the foe's position - but this by itself was not insurmountable. The unique specimen shared its kins' fate.

Reyn was still hot under the collar. "Now it's your turn! I'll show you "will to survive"!" He rushed towards Alvis.

Shulk tried not to roll his eyes as he chased him. All it took to notice that Dickson was aiming at Reyn was not having tunnel vision. It wasn't hard to block the shot with his Replica Monado.

Dickson snarled. "Meddling kids."

Alvis had not moved an iota the entire time. "I have seen your will to fight," he said to Shulk. "It is time to decide. What do you say? Does this world belong to you or to Zanza? Well?"

"Dunno why you care," Dickson butted in. "Same result either way really. But hey, I guess it won't hurt to have a life goal, even one that'll never happen."

"He desires the same as you," Alvis continued, ignoring Dickson's interjection. "And he sees everything. As you see, Shulk. You understand. Correct?"

Shulk paused for a moment for the vision he just received to finish. "Yeah. You can bet on it."

A pair of Telethia swooped in for Dickson and Alvis to mount and carry them off.

"We will be waiting," Alvis said.

"Don't take _too_ long, Shulk," Dickson taunted. "A god's only got so much patience."

The retort came to Shulk immediately. "He needs it with you hanging around."

Dickson appeared to nod and shrug as he disappeared into the distance. The remaining Telethia followed, abandoning the attack on the colony. Shouts of victory rolled in from afar.

"Get back here, you scum!" Reyn hollered after them.

"Give it a rest, Reyn," Sharla said.

"Nrrrrgh." He slowly turned away.

"Let's return to Junks," Dunban suggested. "We may have won this battle, but we need to plan how we're going to fight the war."

There was exhausted assent from the others.

* * *

Colony 6 had proven itself able to hold against a Telethia attack directed by Zanza's disciples; it was sure to hold against further attacks for as long as said disciples were lying in wait for Shulk inside the Bionis. As a result, it was decided that the party could have as much time as they needed (within reason) to rest and prepare. The rest part came first; the remainder of the day was spent with everyone going off their separate ways around the well-reconstructed colony.

It wasn't hard for Melia to find Shulk. Once she'd had enough of thinking herself in circles about some things, she quickly located him in the Junks lab, prodding at the Replica Monado.

"...interesting shape," he was muttering to himself. "Less ring focus, more strut focus, three-part...Oh hi Melia." He half-heartedly waved at her and continued his investigation silently.

Melia sat on an adjacent table and waited for him to decide she was here for a reason.

It took a few minutes, but Shulk did eventually look up and focus on her. "Uh, do you need something?"

"...You might say that." She didn't really _need_ it, but it felt that way. "I am...overly curious about your condition."

"How do you mean?"

"I feel...compelled to know how you felt, what the world was like while you lay dormant here earlier."

Shulk shrugged, unconsciously turning back to his new weapon. "Didn't feel much of anything really. I guess it was like being asleep and kind of stuck in a dream. Then there was some being half-awake, where I sort of knew what was going on a bit, and then you woke me up."

"So...so you heard what was going on, while you were still unable to act?" Melia tried to phrase it in a way that didn't suggest anything in particular.

"After a point yeah." Shulk thought about what he would have heard at the time, and once he remembered, he realized what Melia was probably trying to get at. "Then I heard you talking to me."

Melia tried not to visibly react. "You did?"

"Yeah. It kind of helped me figure out how to wake up, actually, since it was really...uh, close and directional. Helped get my body back into feeling things."

"... ... ...How much did you hear?"

Shulk knew for sure what this was about now, and returned his full attention to Melia. "All of it. I don't know if I remember the whole thing, but you talked about how hard everything's been on you, how you think I'm a bigger hero than you, and how Alvis pointed you in the right direction before we met."

Melia had expected Shulk to have heard some muttering, a string of indistinct speech, or a few disconnected parts. She was not ready for him to reveal that he'd heard and understood everything she'd said. To be honest, she wouldn't have said half the things she did if she'd known he could hear it. She could feel a strange hollowness in her chest.

Shulk suspected that something wasn't right with the way Melia suddenly fell quiet and motionless. "Do you need a hug?"

"No." It was an instant, instinctive response, completely independent from whatever her unconsidered opinion might be.

"Are you sure?"

"No." The second answer was also immediate, but it also wasn't for the actual question that was asked - it was expected to have been a "how about this instead" alternate suggestion. "Wait, I didn't-"

It was too late. Shulk had already stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her.

Melia didn't collapse; rather, she expressly attempted to remain stoic and rigid, and to ignore all the sensations being imparted upon her. It was difficult to stay calm while her dislike of being touched was fighting her assumed condition of touch starvation.

"C'mon, Melia, loosen up a bit." Shulk gave her a light shake. "You're like hugging a statue right now."

She didn't budge. She wasn't going be embarrassed like a wet rag again.

Shulk tried for a further fifteen seconds or so before giving up, disappointed.

"I guess it's dinnertime soon," he said, completely dropping the subject. "Dunban recommended one of the newer places around here a few days ago, I'll go ask him where it was." He picked up his weapon and left.

Melia got the distinct impression she'd made the wrong choice of action, but had no idea what a more correct choice could have been. It certainly couldn't be "liquify like a floozy" like the first hug. What else was there?

 _I didn't communicate well enough,_ she reasoned. _I didn't listen to the follow-up question and gave an emotional response that confused matters. If I'd paid attention, and acted more detached and rational, I could have avoided this situation altogether._

 _I normally don't let my emotions get the best of me like this. It must be due to all that's happened today. And yesterday. And the day before. It's all piled up on itself to form a huge mass of events that's left me at a loss of how to handle all at once. But if I can weather the storm, I should be able to move on eventually._

 _They say it is a curse to live in interesting times. It cannot be more true._


End file.
